Loyalty Beyond Hope
by ChangerOfNames
Summary: When the Doctor changes priorities, leaving Hope in the dust, what is a teenager to do except become a quiet but helpful introvert? Former street rat Hope runs with the Doctor, but when things go forgotten and her snarky remarks get ignored she slowly changes into someone she never thought she'd be.
1. Chapter 1

She stayed up late, just talking with the Doctor. They had just met, and she wanted to get to know him as much as possible. He didn't pay her any attention until Rose had left, but that was okay, because she was used to being ignored, and knew what it was like to be lonely. She saw his sorrow, just a glimpse while he talked to the Nestene Consciousness, and decided then and there that she'd stay by his side until he tossed her aside, as she usually was.

It was just after Earth was consumed by the sun, and she was once again talking and trying to comfort the Doctor. He was ignoring her for Rose, and she sighed. At this rate, he'd have to notice her to toss her away. She shoved the depressed, lonely, and jealous thought aside. He needed someone to be there, and she'd be that person, whether he acknowledged her or not.

She had been robbed and stabbed while the Doctor abandoned her to chase after Rose with Charles Dickens, but that was okay. Rose was more important than her, in every way. Plus, Rose got kidnapped, she only got mugged. The TARDIS led her to the med bay and she was right as rain. He came back in a bad mood, asking her what good she was hiding in the TARDIS. She grinned sheepishly and pretended that comment didn't stab through her heart like a burning arrow. She tried comforting him, but got shoved away, reopening her wound. She apologized and went back to the med bay. He really was lonely, she thought. She was determined to help him, whether he wanted help or not. Just to make him feel better, really.

He dropped her off in London, running after Rose when he saw the date. She was okay with that, though. She had no one to report her missing, having lost her job when Hendrick's failed. That was okay, though. She was 17, and only really had the job to be able to buy stuff to keep her clean and food. She had almost been blown up by a missile having tried following them as best she could. She was stopped by random military people just in time. She had to sprint to not be forgotten and left behind on Earth. She still needed to help the Doctor.

She had comforted the Doctor when the Dalek had self-destructed. Late at night, they had a nice conversation. He still didn't know her name, but that was okay, his nickname for her was okay too. Red. After her sweatshirt, which was red and black. He was smiling and laughing when she left, so she counted that as a plus.

Red. So fitting, seeing as she was covered in it. She tried stopping Rose's new boyfriend from doing anything stupid but he had shoved her away. She had gotten the TARDIS key from him. She wondered when Rose got it. She comforted the Doctor again, late at night. She listened as he ranted for hours about stupid apes, domestics, and how much trouble Rose's conquest had made. She didn't sleep that night, he had spoken until Rose woke up, and then they went on another adventure. He didn't notice her trying not to drip blood on the floor, her sweatshirt soaked. She made sure she wasn't covered in red before he saw her. Rose got the key back.

She had died for the Doctor. He barely noticed. He didn't know she was the one who sacrificed herself. Had Rose's father not sacrificed himself while the Doctor was trying to re-materialize the TARDIS she would've been dead for good. She was still bleeding, but her sweatshirt dried to her stab wound so she wasn't bleeding out.

Jack Harkness noticed her. He even healed her stab wound, seeming worried. She and him had become almost family in the small time they've known each other. She was glad he could come with them on the TARDIS. Jack and her spoke quite a bit, before Jack went to bed. She spoke to The Doctor during the only time he spoke with her. He was happy, that everyone lived for once. She tried her best to stay awake while he spoke. She succeeded. Another sleepless night. To her it was worth it. She even learned a few things when the Doctor described what he was doing.

They landed to recharge the TARDIS from the rift. Jack and her spoke more, getting to know each other. They were close, and Jack even knew her name! She was ecstatic. Jack was worried about her age and appearance. He let her sleep while the TARDIS soaked in the energy. When she woke up from a nightmare, no one was there. That was okay, though. She had accidentally glanced into the heart of the TARDIS. Not enough to kill her quickly, but enough to put her in agonizing pain. That was okay, though. The Doctor had asked her if she was okay today, and she was honored he cared enough to ask. Jack and her spoke a while, getting each other's backgrounds. Jack became an elderly brother figure when he found out her age. He cared so much, it made her want to shy away, but she and him were close, despite the few days of having known each other.

She was about to die, she could feel the heart of the TARDIS eating away at her mind. She tried directing it away from her mind. It was running through her body now. She feels like a failure for not ending the problem. There were many rest days and other adventures. Jack and her had spoken some more, and they were now on friendly contact terms. They could rest against each other and sit on each others' laps without it being awkward. She spent her nights talking and listening to the Doctor. He had cried on her shoulder once, and she had comforted him quite a bit. She knew his backstory now, and she knew the basics on flying the TARDIS. Enough to know more than the Doctor, with the help of the TARDIS and her library.

She had almost been disassembled by many creatures, having known how to unlock a deadbolt with a few magnet tricks and a sonic paperclip she found laying around the TARDIS. The Doctor very obviously still didn't know her name. She stopped Jack from punching the Doctor, at least. Her face hurts now, but that was okay. The Doctor didn't deserve to be punched, she was easily forgettable, that's not his fault. Jack yelled at both her and the Doctor. Her for trying to help an asshole and him for not noticing how great she apparently was. Jack must've just projected his dream sister onto her, she wasn't great at all. She wasn't really important either.

She almost forgot. She was eighteen now. Her phone reminded her. She shrugged it off, hoping Jack and the Doctor were okay. She and Rose had been trying to open the TARDIS for a while. When they succeeded Bad Wolf Rose had taken her to the Doctor, and she watched as Rose and the Doctor kissed, and asked where Jack was. The Doctor hesitated before telling her that he was dead. She was crushed, but she hid it from the Doctor, asking him a few questions here and there while they waited for Rose to wake up. Something within her had changed. The part of the heart of the TARDIS inside her had calmed down and stopped hurting her. She was glad. She and the TARDIS could communicate effectively now, and she was more relaxed when inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor regenerated, and she stayed by his side. She was ignored when he woke up, but when he was asleep she spoke to him, told him that everything would be okay, that Rose would love him, and that she was just in shock. She did her best to comfort him, and stayed by his side as best she could. He ignored her on the spaceship, only giving her a passing glance and quip. She was happy he gave her the time of day. She tried comforting him that night, and he took it way more effectively. He opened up a bit more, cried a few times, and then went back to his precious Rose when she woke back up. She was fine though. It gave her time to mourn for Jack in her room. She couldn't stop sobbing over her lost friend for quite a few hours. So long, in fact, that she was left behind on their New Earth adventure. She again comforted the Doctor when Rose went to sleep. He took it well. It might've even worked, because he was smiling and laughing when Rose again appeared and made her vanish into the background.

The Queen seemed to notice her more, and she did her best to appease the Queen and protect her. She, for some reason, was not banished from the country. She shrank down when she felt the accusing stare of Rose on her. She apologized immensely when they got to the TARDIS but was ignored by both as they spoke. She left to sleep. She couldn't remember the last time she slept.

The Doctor had asked where she was. She was happy, he cared enough to notice. Rose had gone to bed a few hours earlier, and so she spoke with him. She spoke and listened and comforted and was blamed. She was hurt and then hugged because he needed a person there that night. He was broken, as was she. She ignored the shattered pieces of herself and tried helping the Doctor piece himself back together. She was once again forgotten when Rose appeared. At least this time she wasn't left behind.

Sarah Jane noticed her. They exchanged numbers, and the Doctor finally got around to using some jiggery pokery on her phone. Mickey and her exchanged numbers too. She was happy to have made two new friends. She still mourned for Jack, but she'd get over it.

Mickey and her hung out some. They had talked quite a bit, and were soon friends. Rose and the Doctor had ignored them as they talked and laughed and spoke. They were both just the tin dogs, after all. They had opposing ideas on that, though. She said the Doctor needed a tin dog and Mickey was bummed when the Doctor barely knew his name. Mickey was surprised when he noticed that she was referred to as 'you' or some other term. The Doctor now thought her name was Stacey. Mickey was shocked, and she had to plead him not to say anything. He had guessed that name, the Doctor, but that was okay. They kinda sounded similar, she guessed.

She was now used to being called Stacey. She barely remembered her own name. It had been quite a few years since she had used it. Even more since she had been referred to as it. She was in the library when the TARDIS died, and was shocked when she fainted. She woke up a few seconds later and blindly stumbled to the console room, where she and Mickey and the Doctor ran out to find Rose. Mickey caught her up and she accepted that. She was curious and called. She didn't exist in that alternate dimension. She was shocked at how much happier her family sounded. She followed the Doctor, everywhere. He hadn't noticed. He hadn't even mentioned her. She didn't mind. She and Mickey had exchanged heartfelt goodbyes, and he told her to not accept being the tin dog forever. She didn't see how she could be anything more.

She had been put in the sidecar when red electricity started running around. She was just following and talking to Rose. They got along fine, but it was stilted and awkward. Rose claimed the Doctor as hers, and she said there was no competition between the two, the Doctor would always choose Rose. Rose was smug, and she managed to save Rose from becoming faceless. For a few minutes, at least. Her repeated words were 'Rose! Get to the Doctor!'. Rose's were 'Doctor! Help!'. She didn't know if the Doctor even cared enough to recognize she was one of the faceless. She thought not as she was entirely ignored when the Doctor and Rose reunited. Rose sent her a smug look that she didn't quite understand.

The Ood were kind to her, even when the Devil took them over. She was known as 'The Forgotten'. The Doctor asked over the comm who the forgotten was. The Ood ignored me, when asked why replying that she tortured herself enough for the Devil. She was confused at the words of the future. She would be remembered by evil? What did that mean?

They didn't stop for a quick nap or sleep for the next adventure. Or the next. She empathized with the little alien possessing the little girl. She sympathized with the girl.

She almost got absorbed. Luckily she was forgotten by the green monster. She managed to save most of LINDA, and exchanged numbers with a few of them.

She comforted the Doctor when Rose went to bed once again. She was called by Sarah Jane and a member of LINDA during their chats. Ghosts had appeared, and so she told the Doctor. He woke Rose up and they went to the time Sarah and LINDA specified. She was still being called Stacey by the Doctor. She didn't mind, it hurt less now that she got used to it.

She was yelled at and sobbed on and torn and frayed. She had been awake the past five days comforting the Doctor over the loss of Rose, and had been there for his intense and obsessive rants. Five days turned into ten. Ten turned into a month. Finally, the Doctor found a way to communicate one last time with Rose. Rose didn't hear his last words to her, but she did. "Rose, I love you." She almost broke, but she figured she could stay for a bit longer. She wondered why she hadn't died yet from lack of sleep and the pulling and ripping apart of her emotions. The Doctor once again used her as a sobbing board, and she hugged him comfortingly before he decided to go somewhere, anywhere.

 **He solemnly walked around the TARDIS, and next to me a woman in a wedding dress appeared. She was too tired to care, so she just leaned against the woman. The woman noticed her and wrapped her arm around the exhausted and starved girl. She barely ate anything while trying to calm the Doctor down. The Doctor looked up, looking adorably confused.**

 **"What?" He asked softly.**


	2. Chapter 2

**He solemnly walked around the TARDIS, and next to me a woman in a wedding dress appeared. She was too tired to care, so she just leaned against the woman. The woman noticed her and wrapped her arm around the exhausted and starved girl. She barely ate anything while trying to calm the Doctor down. The Doctor looked up, looking adorably confused.**

 **"What?" He asked softly.**

"Who are you?" The woman asked, supporting her as everything blurred and shook.

"But," He spluttered, face slowly changing away from the confused puppy look.

"Where am I?" She demanded.

"What?" The Doctor asked once more, voice rising and face turning incredulous.

"What the hell is this place?" The woman demanded, voice rising in anger.

"What? You can't do that," He started weakly, "I wasn't- we're in flight! That is, that is physically impossible! How did-" He was interrupted by the strong-spirited woman. She looked up to her already and they haven't even spoken to each other yet.

"Tell me where I am! I demand you tell me right now where am I?" The woman almost yelled, arm gripping her tightly.

"Inside the TARDIS."

"The what?"

"The TARDIS." He called slightly louder, running around the console.

"The what?" The woman called, also slightly louder.

"The TARDIS!"

"The what?"

"It's called the TARDIS." The Doctor snapped.

"That's not even a proper word! You're just saying things," The woman snapped back, giving up on the word.

"How did you get in here?" The Doctor demanded, stopping for a moment.

"Well, obviously, when you kidnapped us! Whatever you did really affected this poor girl. Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh my God, she's finally got me back, and this girl back for something. This has got Nerys written all over it." The woman said, hugging the girl closer to her. She was barely 19 and this man kidnapped her.

"Us? Oh, no no no, she's with me- I didn't-" The Doctor stuttered for a moment before giving up, "Who the hell is Nerys?"

"Your best friend." The woman sniped.

"Hold on, wait a minute. What are you dressed like that for?" The Doctor asked, stopping to stare.

"I'm going ten pin bowling. Why do you think, dumbo? I was halfway up the aisle! I've been waiting all my life for this. I was just seconds away, and then you, I don't know, you drugged us or something!" She really admired the woman's will, watching her speak to the Doctor like they were equals. If only she could do that.

"I haven't done anything!"

"Oh, obviously you have! Look at the state of this poor girl! She looks like she hasn't slept in years, and that someone used her as a ragdoll! I'm having the police on you! Me and my husband, as soon as he is my husband, we're going to sue the living backside off you!" The woman released the girl and ran down the ramp to the doors. She collapsed, unable to hold herself up anymore. The Doctor barely glanced at her.

"No, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't!" He attempted to stop the woman before she opens the doors. He failed and the woman looked at a pretty gaseous nebula. The Doctor walked up slowly.

"You're in space. Outer space. This is my spaceship. It's called the Tardis."

"How am I breathing?"

"The Tardis is protecting us."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. You?"

"Donna. Who is- oh my god are you okay?" Donna ran up to the collapsed girl. The Doctor closed the doors and walked up to them, ignoring her.

"Human?"

"Yeah. Is that optional? Stay with us, are you okay? What's your name?" Donna asked the girl, only to be interrupted by the Doctor again once she answered weakly. She couldn't remember for a solid moment before replying Hope. She hoped that that was her name, she couldn't remember.

"Well, it is for me." The Doctor watched as Donna gently set the girl down and stood up. The girl chuckled weakly, forcing herself up to her feet, swaying a bit.

"You're an alien." Donna stated.

"Yeah." He replied lamely. He saw stars after he was slapped.

"What was that for?" He asked, holding his cheek. She frowned at Donna.

"Don't hit him, D-Donna. He's a good alien," She said hoarsely, feeling like she could drop dead any second.

"That was for ignoring your friend over there when she obviously is in need of help!" Donna yelled, angry. "Look at her! Hope looks like she hasn't eaten in a while and hasn't slept in even longer! What did you do to that poor, poor girl? And look at her, frowning at me for slapping you." Donna looked ready to slap him again.

"Who's Hope?" The Doctor asked, already annoyed at Donna bringing up random names. He took a moment to glance at Stacey and flinched a bit. She stayed with him and took care of him, but it looks like she barely took care of herself in the time he was basically catatonic.

"She's Hope!" Donna yelled, gesturing towards the teen, who had fallen asleep on the pilot's chair.

"What? No she's not, she's Stacey! I remember she told me... She told me..." He trailed off as he realized that he didn't even know his companion's name. He decided to think on it later, walking towards the console.

"I don't understand that and I understand everything. This this can't happen! There is no way a human being can lock itself onto the Tardis and transport itself inside. It must be..." He grabbed an ophthalmoscope and used it to look into Donna's eyes.

"Impossible. Some sort of subatomic connection? Something in the temporal field? Maybe something pulling you into alignment with the Chronon shell. Maybe something macro mining your DNA within the interior matrix. Maybe a genetic-" The Doctor stopped when Donna slapped the Doctor.

"What was that for?" He asked, sounding hurt.

" _Get me to the church!_ " Donna yelled.

"Right! Fine! I didn't want you here anyway! Where is this wedding?" The Doctor snapped back, still sounding a bit hurt.

"Saint Mary's, Hayden Road, Chiswick, London, Earth, the _Solar System_." Donna replied, looking at a blouse hanging over the railing.

"I knew it, acting all innocent. I'm not the first, am I? How many women have you abducted? Or are they all like her, given Stockholm Syndrome?"

"That's my friend's," The Doctor said sadly. Donna knew he wasn't referring to Hope, so she continued sassing him.

"Where is she, then? Popped out for a space walk?"

"She's gone."

"Gone where?"

"I lost her."

"Well you can hurry up and lose me!" Donna snarked, before seeing how sad he was, "How do you mean, lost?"

The Doctor ran up and grabbed the blouse, throwing it through a doorway, "Right, Chiswick."

Hope remained behind, sleeping. Donna and the Doctor walked out of the TARDIS.

"I said, Saint Mary's. What sort of Martian are you? Where's this?" Donna snapped, disgruntled.

"Something's wrong with her. Th-" He's interrupted by Donna.

"Maybe "she" doesn't like how you treated that poor girl in there!" Donna snapped, angry at him and the girl for staying with him. Donna gaped at the exterior of the TARDIS. She went around it, doing the traditional circuit. The Doctor paused for a moment, truly looking at the girl named Hope. He had grown to absolutely adore her, but seemed to forget her more often than not. He frowned, deciding to go back through his memories and see how he treated her later.

"Donna!" He yelled when he saw her walking away. He ran after her, saying her name once more. "Donna."

"Leave me alone. I just want to get married." Donna continued walking.

"Come back to the TARDIS," The Doctor suggested.

"No way, that box is too weird." Donna snapped, and then Hope truly blacked out, neither the TARDIS nor her knowing what the Doctor and Donna were doing.


	3. Chapter 3

Hope woke up, and looked around. She was in the pilot's chair. She had been sleeping. At that moment in time, the TARDIS started materializing around the Doctor and that wonderous woman, Donna. Hope smiled at them, both of them grinning back at her.

"Hey, Hope!" The Doctor chirped, not noticing her eyes go wide and her mouth gape at him, "Oh, Donna! Do you know what I said before about time machines? Well, I lied. And now we're going to use it. We need to find out what the Empress of the Racnoss is digging up. If something's buried at the planet's core, it must've been there since the beginning. That's just brilliant. Molto bene. I've always wanted to see this. Donna, Hope, we're going further back than I've ever been before." He stated, excited.

Hope got up to comfort Donna.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Donna. Whatever happened, it'll be okay." Donna looked at Hope, seeing Hope smiling softly at her. Donna looked away, silent. "I promise, okay? I'll help you however I can, even at the expense of myself, okay? You'll be feeling better in no time, you can overcome this obstacle, okay?"

"Is that what you promised the Doctor? Is that why you let him treat you like that?" Donna asked, looking at Hope again. Hope hummed, looking up before her eyes met Donna's.

"The Doctor had just lost someone he loved dearly, and him, being alien, doesn't need to sleep as much as us humans. So when I tried comforting him and letting him use me as a comfort source, I had to stay awake, even when he did sleep, so I could make sure he was woken from nightmares before they got too bad. It wasn't that he was treating me bad," Hope admitted, "But that he just didn't notice me not taking care of myself as much as I was taking care of him. So, my promise stands, Donna. Even at the expense of myself, I'll do my best to make you feel better." Hope finished, nodding at her own words.

"How'd he treat you before he lost the one he loved? Tell me, did he pay you any attention even before?" Donna said softly, and Hope gaped like a fish for a few moments, unable to answer. Thankfully, the Doctor cut in.

"We've arrived. Want to see?" At our silence, he continued, "Oh, that scanner's a bit small. Maybe your way's best," He muttered, walking up to the TARDIS doors.

"Come on. No human's ever seen this. You two will be the first."

"All I want to see is my bed." Dona moped, and Hope nudged her, both standing up and walking over.

"We can arrange that later, Donna. Let's watch history together, yeah?" Hope said softly, voice comforting.

"Donna Noble, Hope, welcome to the creation of the Earth," He stated, and we all stared into the gaseous but beautiful area of rocks and dust, " We've gone back four point six billion years. There's no solar system, not yet. Only dust and rocks and gas. That's the Sun, over there. Brand new. Just beginning to burn."

"Where's the Earth?" Donna asked, and Hope nodded in understanding. Had she not spent a good majority of her time in the library, she probably wouldn't know either.

"All around us in the dust."

"Puts the wedding in perspective. Lance was right. We're just tiny," Donna said, and Hope shook her head.

"No. You, Donna. You are absolutely wonderful, and powerful, and awesome. Humans in general, they make sense out of all the meaningless, and they _create_ meaning. It's utterly brilliant, and you, you're part of that, Donna," Hope assured, not meaning to make a motivational speech, just wanting to cheer up the woman.

"Yeah, like Hope said, that's what you do. The human race makes sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed," The Doctor added in, making Hope feel special that he listened to her. Until she realized that he probably would've said the same thing had she not been there.

"So I came out of all this?" Donna asked.

"Isn't that brilliant?" The Doctor replied.

Donna points out a large rock drifting by, "I think that's the Isle of Wight." Hope smiled at the joke.

"Eventually, gravity takes hold. Say, one big rock, heavier than the others, starts to pull other rocks towards it. All the dust and gas and elements get pulled in. Everything, piling in until you get..."

"The Earth."

"But the question is, what was that first rock?" The Doctor asked, and Hope pointed at the shiny star-shaped spaceship.

"The Racnoss. Hold on, the Racnoss are hiding from the war. What's it doing?"

"Exactly what you said," Donna commented, watching rocks and gas gather around it.

"Oh, they didn't just bury something at the centre of the Earth. They became the centre of the Earth. The first rock."

The TARDIS sounded out a bang, and Hope felt them being pulled towards a certain time and place. Hope followed the Doctor and Donna, listening quietly to their conversation. She long ago learned that her quips would be ignored, so she had forced herself to learn to shut up. She now did it quite often, enjoying the peace it gave her, knowing she didn't have to speak, since her input wouldn't be heard.

"Come on!" The Doctor yelled.

"But what do we do?" Donna asked, and Hope looked around. Robots were coming, and so Hope got in a defensive position. Not today, they don't.

She fought as hard as she could, and managed to down one of them before they grabbed her and Donna.

"Sorry Donna. I failed you," Hope said, next to Donna on the web.

"You didn't. You tried your hardest, didn't you? You promised to do your best, and you did." Donna reassured before looking at Lance.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, I think we've gone a bit beyond that now, sweetheart," Lance said back.

A cool red and black spider-woman spoke up, "My golden couple, together at last. Your awful wedded life. Tell me, do you want to be released?" Only Hope said 'no'.

"No? What do you mean no?" Donna snapped, and Hope looked at Donna.

"If we're released now, where do you think we'll fall?" Hope asked quietly, and Donna paled.

"You're supposed to say, "I do"," The spider-person said.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met. I'm Hope, and I like reading. You are?" Hope cut in, curious. The spider-person looked at her curiously as well.

"Such nice manners!" She hissed and spat in her own spider-y way. Hope thought that it was really cool.

"I am Empress of the Racnoss," The Empress answered, and Hope spoke up once more.

"And what do you like to do in your free time besides eat and sleep?" Hope asked kindly, looking interested. Mainly because she was. It was a spider! A spider that was intelligent enough to hold conversation! How cool is that?

"Oh, such interest! I think I'll keep you! I like knitting things for my children!" The Empress snarled and hissed and spat. Not in a mean way, just in the way she spoke.

"Awe, how sweet! I bet your kids look really cute!" Hope said, sounding like she was aweing at a puppy. Hope was not intending to distract the Empress, but just wanted to speak to someone who seemed to see her.

"The cutest!" The Empress agreed.

"Are you planning on naming any of them? All of them? I think Claude is an excellent child's name. Sounds sophisticated, doesn't it?" Hope asked.

"Would you quit having small talk with the _killer spider_!" Donna snapped, and Hope blushed, looking away from the Empress.

"Sorry, Donna. I just think the Empress is kinda cool, is all. She seems to really care for her children, and I'd hate for her to not be able to speak of her pride and joys." Hope replied, grinning sheepishly at Lance's and Donna's incredulous stares.

"Quite right! I have enjoyed our talk!" The Empress hissed, laughing, "I shall show you them! Activate the particles. Purge every last one."

Hope felt queasy and squeaked when she saw she was glowing.

"And release!"

Hope clenched her teeth against the pain, and eventually the pain stopped. She sighed in relief. As the golden particles stay inside her and the particles from Donna and Lance zoom straight down into the hole they were hanging above.

"The secret heart unlocks, and they will waken from their Sleep of Ages." The Empress starts, "My children, the long lost Racnoss, now reborn to feast on flesh! The web star shall come to me. My babies will be hungry. They need sustenance. Perish the web."

"Use them, not me! Use them!" Lance cried out, struggling against the web.

"Oh, my funny little Lance! But you are quite impolite to your lady friend. The Empress does not approve." The Empress stated, and Hope nodded.

"Yeah, he was quite rude, wasn't he," Hope commented, only flinching when Donna glared at her.

"Thank you, Hope. That _helps_ ," She spat, and Hope looked away, feeling bad. Maybe she should just be silent. Forever. She even learned sign language, so she could become mute if she wanted to.

"Harvest the humans! Reduce them to meat," The Empress commanded, "My children are climbing towards me and none shall stop them. So you might as well unmask, my clever little doctor man."

"Doctor man?" Hope whispers to herself, rather liking the way it sounded. The Doctor took off the robe and robot mask.

"Oh well. Nice try. I've got you, Hope! Donna!" The Doctor called, and the web started to give away.

"We're going to fall!" Donna cried, worried.

"You're going to swing! I've got you!" The Doctor called.

Donna and Hope swung, Donna screaming and Hope doing the calculations. Oh, neither of them would be caught, Hope thought just before crashing into the wall above the Doctor as Donna crashed into the wall below.

"Oh," The Doctor said blankly, "Sorry."

"Thanks for nothing. Did you at least catch Hope?" Donna snapped.

"Nope," Hope groaned, "I think I broke my existence."

"The doctor man and Hope amuses me," The Empress hissed, laughing.

"Empress of the Racnoss, I give you one last chance. I can find you a planet. I can find you and your children a place in the universe to coexist. Take that offer and end this now," The Doctor warned, and Hope hopped up.

 **"Take it! He doesn't give second chances! Your babies will die if you refuse him! Please!" Hope called out desperately, walking up next to the Doctor.**


	4. Chapter 4

**"Take it! He doesn't give second chances! Your babies will die if you refuse him! Please!" Hope called out desperately, walking up next to the Doctor.**

"These men are so funny," The Empress snarled, amused. Hope looked at the Doctor, worried. She'd try. She'd try to get the Empress a second chance.

"What's your answer?"

"Oh I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

"What happens next is your own doing."

"I'll show you what happens next. At arms! Take aim!" Hope stepped in the way of the guns, screwing her eyes shut as she did her best to be a good meat shield, "And-"

"Relax," The Doctor called softly, the robots slumping. Hope awkwardly looked around, moving out of the way.

"What did you do?" Donna asked.

"Guess what I've got, Donna?" The Doctor replied, and the Doctor pulled out a robot remote control, "Pockets."

"How did that fit in there?"

"They're bigger on the inside," The Doctor replied.

"Roboforms are not necessary. My children may feast on Martian flesh," The Empress said.

"Oh, but I'm not from Mars," The Doctor said, his voice indicating he was leading her to some great reveal. Hope blushed, looking away. He may not have noticed her moving in front of him, but it would've been embarrassing if he had.

"Then where?"

"My home planet is far away and long since gone. But its name lives on. Gallifrey," The Doctor said.

"They murdered the Racnoss!" The Empress yelled, shocked and afraid.

"We warned you. You did this," The Doctor said darkly, pulling some Christmas tree decorations from his pocket.

"No! No! Don't! No!" The Empress pleaded, and Hope stopped the Doctor just before he threw them into the air. She looked into his dark eyes, and waited until he relaxed to release him and face the Empress.

"Please! Empress of the Racnoss, don't be a bad empress and let your subjects die! He gave you an offer! He won't give you another one, just let him take you and your children to a planet! Let your race turn from genocide to coexisting! Please, for your children!" Hope called, and the Empress looked at her, seeing the desperation and pain. The Empress then looked at the Doctor, at how dark his eyes were as he stared at her. She knew Hope wasn't lying, and nodded slowly.

"I... Accept your offer. We shall try to coexist, but my children are born starving! Is there any galaxy we can consume so my babies don't starve?" The Empress agreed, and Hope relaxed, falling to her knees.

Later, when they were parked outside Donna's home, Hope stood aside and watched their conversation.

"There we go. Told you she'd be alright. She can survive anything." The Doctor said.

"More than I've done," Donna muttered. The Doctor gave her a quick whirr of the sonic.

"No, all the Huon particles have gone. No damage, you're fine," The Doctor said, not understanding Donna's meaning.

"Yeah, but apart from that, I missed my wedding, lost my job and became a widow on the same day. Sort of," Donna clarified.

"I couldn't save him," The Doctor said, looking sad.

"He deserved it," Donna glanced at Hope's and the Doctor's face, "No, he didn't. I'd better get inside. They'll be worried."

"Best Christmas present they could have. Oh, no. I forgot you hate Christmas."

"Yes, I do."

"Even if it snows?"

Hope didn't pay much more attention to the conversation, enjoying the snow. She zoned back in when the TARDIS hummed at her, and she hummed back.

"No, but really. Everything we did today. Do you live your life like that?" Donna asked, and the Doctor shrugged.

"Not all the time."

"I think you do, and I couldn't."

"But you've seen it out there. It's beautiful."

"And it's terrible. If Hope hadn't stopped you, you wouldn't have given them another chance, would you? The place would be flooding and burning and they'd be dying and I bet you'd just be standing there like, I don't know, a stranger. And then you made it snow! I mean, you scare me to death," Donna admitted, and Hope sighed sadly.

"Maybe I should go too. He doesn't even see me," Hope murmured to herself a bit too loudly, and both Donna and the Doctor turn to see her making a snowman, seemingly oblivious.

The Doctor looked at her, hurt. Did she really think that? That settled it, he was thinking about how he treated her _tonight_.

Hope went back to focussing on her snowman, hands frozen and jeans soaked through by the time she was done messing about. She silently walked into the TARDIS with the Doctor.

Hope stayed inside when the Doctor was called out again. She couldn't help but hear part of a sentence though.

"... stop you. She's a good influence on you, and she can stop you." She then realized that that was more than part of a sentence, and that she was eavesdropping. She walked away, deciding to go to the kitchen and get something to eat. She was famished.

A few hours later, the Doctor walked into the kitchen. Hope went back to eating, knowing he'd just get his food and ignore her. Hope just knew that she'd throw everything she was eating up, but it had been so long since she felt both cool and warm food in her stomach, and she couldn't bring herself to stop just yet.

 **"Hope, I- we need to talk," The Doctor said, sounding broken.**


	5. Chapter 5

**"Hope, I- we need to talk," The Doctor said, sounding broken.**

Hope nodded, cleaning her face and her food up before walking towards the Doctor and hugging him.

"It's okay, Doctor. Rose is safe, and living a happy life in the-"

"No, that's not what I wanted to talk about." The Doctor said, hugging back.

"Oh, it's okay, Doctor. We'll see Donna again, I bet. She'll come looking for us eventually, and trouble seems to follow Donna as much as it does you, so you'll be okay. I'm here," Hope reassured, not noticing the Doctor wasn't silent because of mourning, but because he was shocked that Hope thought the only reason he wanted to talk to her was because he was in need of comfort about someone else.

"No- no, that's not what I wanted to talk about either."

Hope slowly stood back, a confused expression on her face as she looked at him worriedly.

"... Then what?" Hope asked, hesitantly. Was she getting kicked off the TARDIS? What did she do? Was she not good enough?

"... How I've treated you in the- hey! Wait- Why are you running?! I haven't even- Hope! Hope! Wait!" The Doctor called, confused as Hope ran as fast as she could away from the mega-nope situation she'd avoid as long as possible.

The Doctor, wanting to talk about her? Nope, impossible. Hopefully she could run from this fake long enough for the Doctor to save her. If he ever took the time to notice she was in danger, being chased by his doppelganger. She didn't know how he got on the TARDIS, but she knew that she'd have to escape or reach a safe place before she ran out of stamina.

"Sexy, a little help? Maybe the library, lock the fake Doctor out and alert the real one to my situation?" Hope murmured to herself, not noticing the Doctor stop.

"Fake? She thinks that I'm fake? Why?" He muttered to himself. The TARDIS pushed a memory of him saying "How I've treated you" and the Doctor stood there, confused. "She thinks I'm a fake because I wanted to talk about her? O-Oh, I've really messed up, haven't I?" The Doctor said, eyes glimmering as he sat down, pulling his knees towards him.

 _"Do you believe me?" He asked, heart expecting the blows given to it._

 _"No," Rose replied._

 _"Yes," the other girl answered. He hadn't expected that, and glanced at the other girl for a few moments. She looked sincere. He went back to Rose._

The Doctor frowned, hugging his knees as another memory popped up.

 _"Right, where do you want to start? I've heard it all." The Doctor asked._

 _"It's… Uh, what's the word, dimensionally transcendental. It transcends dimensional possibilities, and um… She's a beautiful ship. Almost sexy, if I were into modes of transportation. And- it could be a homely environment. Like you could keep your heart in here and it'd be safe forever," the other girl muttered. The Doctor looked at her for a moment, surprised once more by the intriguing girl._

He knew her name, before he met Rose. He was interested and cared for her, but then… _Rose_. And another.

 _"Are you okay?" the other girl asked, Rose long asleep._

 _"Yeah, fine," he replied. He wasn't getting mushy with some human!_

 _"Lonely?" She asked, and he remained silent. She nodded and sat down, staying with him throughout the night._

…

 _"You lot, you spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years into your future, and this is the day... Hold on... This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world," He commented._

 _"It's empty. They're all gone. No one left," He stated, watching Rose's and the other girl's reaction._

 _"Just us, then," Rose muttered, and the other girl nodded._

 _"The weight of being truly alone in the universe is a heavy one. The weight of being ignored by your entire species is a different but just as effective weight. But the weight of both... Ah, I feel like I'm a disappointment, not representing humanity good enough," the other girl whispered. He ignored her, a voice coming from behind them_.

And another.

" _Jabe- get out of here! I got the lever, you'll burn!" He heard in the distance, and he turned to see Jabe run out, the other girl in her place. He nodded._

 _Later, he ignored the fact that she was injured, and he ignored her to talk to Rose when she was trying to comfort him._

And another, and another and another. He ended up sobbing, hating what he's become. Ignoring someone so completely like he did? Forgetting about them so much when all they've done is try and help even when they were literally _bleeding out_? The Doctor started shaking, wondering how he ever got such a loyal companion, who tried to help him no matter what. He froze when he felt her arms around him, and she muttered sweet nothings, petting his hair and comforting him. He cried harder, his shaking getting worse as he realized that she stopped running from what she thought was a fake to comfort them. She was just a good person in general, and he had taken her for granted.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry." He mumbled over and over, and Hope just took it, muttering comfort words and how he wasn't alone.

Hope had stopped when the padding of feet behind her did, and she watched the doppelganger break down. She frowned. Even if this was a trap, no one deserved to feel that way. And... Maybe he wasn't a fake, if this was his reaction to being called a doppelganger.

Hope wrapped her arms around him, comforting him as he apologized over and over for something she probably wouldn't be told about. Hope froze when he hugged back, a full hug and not a half-hug or a half-hearted hug. He hadn't done that before. It wasn't the "you're my teddy bear that I can cry on" hug either. He stayed like like, his shaking slowly stopped, his face firmly placed in the crook of her neck. They seemed to fit together as he pulled her ever tighter, her breathing much shallower now. She could barely breathe. That was okay though, the Doctor needed her, doppelganger or not.

She hugged back just as firmly, of course. He needed a desperate grab on reality, obviously. They hugged for what seemed like a few seconds and an eternity. Eventually, the Doctor's grip relaxed and she almost pulled away before she realized he had fallen asleep on her tear-soaked shoulder. She gently lifted him, taking him to his room. The TARDIS allowed her to go to his room during these times. She's never tried to go to his room whenever he wasn't needed to be put in his bed.

When she went to lay him down and leave him, his grip tightened on her, and she collapsed on him. She was still weak from the lack of sleep and food, there's no way she was strong enough to hold both herself and the Doctor up when he pulled her. He shifted, and all of a sudden all of her nerves lit on fire as the Doctor used her as a teddy bear. Not in a sexual way, but a if-I'm-caught-I'm-dead-and-I-need-to-feel-everything-to-survive. Like if a stair creaks when you're trying to sneak around. Everything stopped, and she could feel everything.

She slowly, efficiently, detangled herself, replacing herself with an actual teddy bear.

The door was locked. She cussed silently, trying not to make too much noise as she begs the TARDIS to unlock the door for her. It required a sonic device to open it. A sonic device she had placed back in the Doctor's pocket, on the chair next to him. Across the room, full of metallic and technological clutter. Basically, there were billions of noisemakers between her and her escape, times two. The TARDIS hummed an apology. The Doctor programmed the door himself. The TARDIS would take a few hours to be able to open it, and the Doctor would wake up by then. He would know she was in his room. He would know she had seen him sleep. He would be pissed.

Hope didn't give her namesake up, deciding to carefully creep back towards the jacket. Her eyes had adjusted somewhat, so she could avoid the really loud noises.

"Mnn, Sexy... Hope... Rose..." The Doctor groaned, turning around and taking the easily-20-pound teddy with him. Pure, sleepy strength right there.

Hope sighed, the stress getting to her. And... _oh no_! Hope stumbled around, accidentally crashing into something as she rushed to the bathroom. Her food made a reappearance, just wanting to say hi. She had a nice time with them the first time, but there was a place and time, so she said goodbye and flushed everything she'd eaten earlier down the toilet.

She rinsed out her mouth, looking at herself in the mirror. She froze, having not seen herself in the mirror for over a few years. The girl in the mirror looked like the devil had decided to mix a raccoon and a bat with a messy-haired human chick. Basically, the girl in the mirror looked like shit, and like a bird had made its home in her oily and dark hair. She winced. She'd fix that as soon as she escaped the Doctor's room without- she froze, eyes staring in shock at the man looking at her from the bathroom door.

He was groggily slumped against the doorway, clothes rumpled and hair just a touch messier than it was when he was awake. Basically, he was a sex god, blocking her only method of escape. She wasn't focused on that part, though. She was more focused on the fact that _she was in the Doctor's bathroom and he knew she was in his room and she's gonna get kicked off the TARDIS now but she's too young to be metaphorically killed and-_. Her mind shut down, and the Doctor and Hope just stared at each other. The Doctor in sleepy confusion, and Hope blankly, her mind rebooting so she doesn't have a panic attack. Now wasn't the time.

The Doctor was confused. He had thought he had taken himself to his rooms before, just too tired to remember, but... Was Hope the one who brought him to his room, time and time again whenever he fell asleep working at the console? Or in the kitchen? He felt immensely guiltier, and sighed heavily.

"S-sorry for waking you, Doctor." Hope muttered weakly. The Doctor shrugged, yawning. Hope couldn't help but look away from his dark eyes, nerves firing off in her stomach to tell her that she was _so dead_.

"It's fine," He murmured, his voice a pitch or two deeper than the deepest tone she's heard him use from exhaustion. She shivered, and his gaze roved over her. She looked like shit, she knew, and he probably knew it too. He groaned, standing up and stretching.

"You should head to bed as well," He muttered, and Hope froze.

"Y-you don't- you aren't mad?" Hope said, voice always soft nowadays. She had run out of energy to put in her voice after she was ignored for over a year.

"No," He stated firmly, and he looked her deep in the eyes. Or tried to, at least. Hope looked away before their gaze could meet for more than a moment. A moment that had no time to even feel like an eternity, that's how fast she looked away.

He wearily grabbed for his sonic screwdriver, having put his coat back on, and buzzed his door open. Hope was about to walk out when the whirring noise started again and the door closed just barely missing her nose.

"Wait, actually. I need to talk to you, and you can't run off this time."

Except Hope knew she couldn't take a few minutes of conversation, let alone a few hours like she knew it'd be. Hope sighed heavily, stumbling towards the Doctor and doing her best to stay awake. She had been full before she threw up, but some food was still in her stomach and her entire body was resisting her every move.

"Maybe… later…" she murmured, collapsing. She figured that she was too tired to feel the bite of metal and noisemakers.

Hope groaned at the excited prodding, swatting the hand away and shifting to go back to sleep.

It didn't work, and she sat up when she heard the Doctor's voice.

"Hope! You're awake! Finally! I was wo…. I thought you'd…. It's been two weeks! Get up!" The Doctor called, and Hope groaned.

"Make it an eternity, that was one excellent dream." She muttered, waking up slowly and waiting for the Doctor to rush off and get Rose.

"What was it about that you'd want to stay in it an eternity?" He asked, incredulous. Humans, honestly.

"Mm, it was kinda bad, at first, but then this red headed girl came and talked to you as if you were her equal- slapped you, too, and she must've said something that I forgot about in the dream cuz this fake you came along- ended up being the real you, and yeah. Good dream, really." I muttered to myself, knowing he already left the room. He had to have, seeing as she wasn't being spoken over or ignored.

"You thought that was a dream…?" He asked, and Hope nodded wearily, standing up and finally opening her eyes. She blinked as she took in the sight of the med bay.

"Or maybe it all was a dream? The last time I fell asleep here was when I was stabbed… I really liked Jack, though… He was the best." Hope said to the presumed empty room. The Doctor was behind her, having been on the other side of the bed she was asleep on when she got up.

"No, that was all real. Remember? You were - I -" the Doctor cut himself off, just gaping at Hope. He didn't know what to say. He focused on the small part.

"You and Jack were together?" The Doctor watched as Hope spun around and remembered everything simultaneously. He watched as Hope's eyes grew dull and world-weary after holding a hopeful gleam and shock. It pained him to see her age so quickly.

"No, we were basically family. Too bad he's dead," she replied, shrugging dully. Hope still hurt over Jack's death.

The Doctor set his jaw when he saw the pain in her eyes. He'd regret telling her this, he knew. She'd request to go to him, or for him to be taken along, or want to stay with Jack on Earth.

" **Ah, actually. Jack's alive, somewhere on Earth,"** He said, seemingly waiting for the big explosion as he rubbed his neck. It didn't happen.


	6. Chapter 6

" **Ah, actually. Jack's alive, somewhere on Earth,"** He said, seemingly waiting for the big explosion as he rubbed his neck. It didn't happen.

Hope visibly brightened, slump reducing as she nodded, a small smile on her face. Hope knew the Doctor told her he was dead for a reason, so while it hurt, she wouldn't ask. She knew the answer already by his expression and tone.

"Okay. Thank you, for telling me." Hope said quietly, voice unused to being used for any normal or loud conversations. The Doctor looked at her.

"... You aren't going to ask to see him, are you?" He said just as quietly. He was shocked. Who wouldn't want to see their own family?

"You don't want me to, so I won't. I'd love to if you're offering, but you aren't. I just hope I'll see him again one day, when you inevitably abandon me somewhere on Earth," Hope replied, shying away from the conversation. She walked slightly away, looking around and flicking a few switches to see how she was doing.

"Aban- I won't abandon you! What makes you think that?" The Doctor said, voice rising into a yell. His normal state, really.

"Sarah and Jack." Hope didn't bother hiding how flat her voice was. Both gained more attention than her and were left behind, so she'd most certainly be left behind for one reason or another.

"That's different." He denied. Hope shrugged, letting it go.

Her vitals were fine, it seemed that a few of her injuries were healed by the Doctor, and she was starving. It seemed that she kept her hydration levels quite good, despite not having had much food or sleep. Maybe that's what kept her alive, in the end. Her hand reached up and felt her hollowed cheeks. Yeah, hydration.

Hope checked and saw that the general consensus of the machine was to eat lightly and don't do much physical activity. She was about to delete the information and close the screen but she wasn't fast enough and the Doctor moved the screen from her grip, looking at the readout.

"So, what's our next adventure?" Hope asked, holding onto her namesake desperately as she tried distracting him.

"... We're not having an adventure, not anytime soon." He said, almost wistfully, mainly just muttering it. Hope frowned up at him, turning off the monitor.

"Yeah, we are. Choose a place or I will." Hope ordered quietly. While she learned to stay quiet, her personality never left. She was a teenager, not a sappy soap opera woman. Full of spunk and rebellious things, the only reason she never thought to go against the Doctor and snark and sarcastically remark about everything was because she did and was ignored, so she just made it internal. Plus, she liked the Doctor, why would she do anything but follow him around like a puppy?

The Doctor gaped at her a moment before straightening to his full height. Not that it did much good, even in his slouch he was taller than her.

"No, we aren't. You need bed rest and food, little to no physical activity, including running, and while not quite as bad you're extremely dehydrated." He stated, and Hope frowned.

"You misread the readout. It only said that I was starved and tired, not that I was dehydrated." Hope muttered, shaking her head and walking out of the room. The Doctor followed her. She didn't mind being the center of his focus, it felt nice.

"Oh, is that what you read or what you couldn't deny?" The Doctor snarked, making Hope roll her eyes. She couldn't stop the motion if she tried.

The Doctor looked surprised when Hope took up a sprint and started flicking switches on the console. He watched in awe as she flew the TARDIS with grace and excellence. For a moment, he wondered how she knew how, before they both flew to the floor as the TARDIS landed.

"I believe that we have arrived in the late twenty billions, on a beautiful planet called "Crynius". Found by humans, named by humans, and basically a nice vacation planet that only rich people and Time Agents can afford to pay to visit. Jack mentioned it once, and it's a humanoid planet only. No pets, no Daleks, and no Jagrafess." Hope explained, gesturing towards the doors. The Doctor gaped at her.

"But- I'm supposed to be the impressive one! You can't- you don't get to do that!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Hope rolled her eyes once more.

Clicking a few buttons, the TARDIS dematerialized and rematerialized.

"Oh, whoops. I accidentally crash landed your magnificent ship into a random planet. Whoops, look how unimpressed- I mean, unimpressive I am compared to the silly little doctor man- I mean, impressive totally awesome fantasized about sex god or Lord of Time or whatever impressive title he decides to have." Hope said, utterly monotone. So monotone it was as if she was just droning something from a textbook.

"Sex god?" He asked, bewildered at Hope's new attitude. Since when was she a snarky human? He thought back and realized that she was always snarky, just less obviously so than she was now.

"Yeah, Rose called you that one. I believe that Jack also called you that on occasion. Never to your face, but yeah." She then walked outside, and frowned. Okay, maybe she should work on her crash landing skills. This was Earth, not Crynius. She double checked when she first landed, which meant that the second time she messed up. Sucks.

"That was before I regenerated! I'm different now! Wait, I thought you said Crynius?" The Doctor said.

"It's the aura you give off, not the face you have, you daft ignoramus. Yeah, when I said randomly crash landed I meant let the TARDIS choose the place." Hope bluffs, "there's probably something off about this area. Let's go back and check."

"No, what _we're_ doing is getting you some healing and-"

"Doctor! Doctor!" A man's voice called out, and Hope slumped, frowning as tears came to her eyes.

"Oh… I guess we have to leave now… You don't like him for some reason…" Hope muttered, looking as if her puppy was just killed in front of her. The Doctor, not an idiot, noticed immediately, and grimaced as he stopped Hope from entering the Tardis. Hope frowned, speaking before the Doctor could.

"I know what you're doing, and I just want to say that if Jack sees me like this, I'm not strong enough to protect you. We need to go." She stated, voice strong if not particularly loud. The Doctor grimaced.

"No, we need to get you to a hospital. You look like the dead risen up. We've both seen that before, and it's not pretty." He ordered, just as Jack rounded the corner and sprinted up.

"I despise hospitals, and if I see a doctor that isn't you I'm not going to stop myself from beating them to a bloody mess." Hope snapped, Jack recognizing the voice, if not the face.

"Oh, woah, what happened here? Why do you look like you've been -"

"Yes, thanks. A hug would be nice." Hope interrupted, thin arms inviting. Jack frowned as he noted the way her clothes hung off of her, and hugged her, glaring at the Doctor over her head.

"Who's he? Did he do this to you? Where's the Doctor?" Jack asked. He winced when he felt the boney quality of Hope's shrug.

"He's the Doctor, no, and he changed his face after he abandoned you, leaving me to believe you dead." She said flatly, not able to notice either Jack _or_ the Doctor's grimace with her face pressed against Jack's chest.

"You don't change, even when hell freezes over, do you?" Jack muttered, stepping away from the frail visage of Hope.

It's silent for a moment, and then it's broken.

"I'm sorry, I- it's my fault she's like that…" The Doctor admitted, "Can you help me get her to a hospital? I have a feeling she won't go willingly…"

Jack nodded, having known of Hope's hatred for hospitals. He then cursed, for Hope had just darted off, into the streets of London. He had been visiting London on a rare vacation day when he heard the Tardis.

Both the Doctor and Jack rushed after her, but while they had the advantage physically, Hope knew the streets of London better than either of them could ever hope to. Mainly because she lived on them for a while.

"Code white! Two men chasing an escapee! Hope's here!" Hope heard, along with a crackle of static. She knew the route, and only the people on the streets would recognize her when she looked like a starved street rat.

"Family! A pacifist and an American gunner! Trying to bring me to a medic!" Hope called out, and suddenly four more people joined her on her run, one boy picking her up and the other three slowing down and splitting up to run interference.

No one on the streets liked the hospital. Coppers could get to them there, and they'd be questioned and registered. Everyone knew that being registered was bad.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Doctor and Jack both tried speaking to the three running interference, but nothing worked**. Suddenly Jack realized something.

"Doctor! Stop talking! We sound like traffickers! They won't care what we say, they're street rats." He said.

Meanwhile, deep in the city of London, Hope and her savior stood, both panting.

"Good to see you again, mate. After your work blew up and they found a body we thought you were dead. Let's take you to Dok, shall we?" The boy said, leading Hope to the new location.

It changed weekly, so even if Hope had wanted to visit after she got a job and a place, which she did, she couldn't.

"... What did they do to you? You've never been this silent in your life! Your eyes are aged too… Why were they trying to take you to a medic?" The boy spoke, trying to fill the usually full silence.

Hope frowned, "They aren't bad. The gunner is a brother, he just found us recently, and the pacifist was too deep in mourning over his girlfriend that he didn't notice I didn't take care of myself. I was more focused on keeping him good than keeping me good, yeah?" Hope muttered, voice hoarse and quiet. The boy reeled back.

"Your voice too?! Hope, even when you're close to death you speak louder than that! What the hell happened, if it's not them's fault?" The boy asked, and Hope grimaced.

"Their. Not them's, Mitt. You were doing so well. I found a wonderful family, but they don't really pay attention to my input, so I shut myself up. It's peaceful, being quiet. Now I know why Dok and Eks are quiet even when they have a chance to be loud," Hope spoke, trying her hardest to rant and ramble and rave like she used to.

Her voice gave out on the last word, and Hope winced at the look she was getting.

"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one! No abusives, you said, yet here you are enabling 'em!" The boy snapped, before slamming his foot into a trash can twice and into a wooden box three times.

A door opened and Hope and Mitt were welcomed in. Hope hesitated when she saw who was on the leadership bin. She never really got along with Damien David Davidson, also known as 3D, yet there he was, on the leadership bin. A plastic upturned bin of leadership seating. He smirked at her, standing to greet her.

"Back again, Hopeless? I knew you'd never keep your career," the snobby prat said, Dok walking up and taking her vitals while she glared at him.

"At least I got a job, 3D. What have you got? An army of dust mites?" Hope murmured, voice on the edge of giving out once more. 3D looked worried immediately.

"Trafficking? Or is it just a sore throat? You aren't- you didn't get- who do I need to kill," 3D demanded, eyes dark. Everyone in the small room stood up, looking severe.

Everyone looked up when the door opened, admitting the three that helped Hope out and the Doctor and Jack. Hope looked away from both her new family and her old one, arms twitching every so often.

"Ah, hello! I'm the Doctor, and this is my friend, Jack," the Doctor introduced.

"Are those the bastards? I'll kill them!" 3D hissed, glaring at the two adults. Hope kicked 3D, shaking her head.

"N-" Hope's voice gave out, and Mitt spoke up.

"She said no, but they's the ones she calls family, but from what I'd heard, they is abusive," Mitt said, glaring at them.

"They're, they are," 3D corrected, and Mitt nodded to show he heard, "why'd you bring them here, you idiots!"

The three looked insulted and embarrassed at the same time, showing five giant full bags of food and one bag containing a bunch of water filters and four sleeping bags.

"They said they mean no harm, showed us identification, and got the pack some shite. We checked, and their phones have been taken. Neither of them have weapons anymore, 3D." One of them explained, and the group got to work passing out the food and setting up the sleeping bags.

"They did this to her. How could they mean no harm if they let her go on like this? I can't help her at all, she needs an expert. Which we don't have, since our last doctor got jailed," Dok spoke, the room silencing to hear what she said. Everything she said was important, when she spoke so little.

"Woah there, did what to her? From what I'm seeing her appearance isn't out of the ordinary," Jack spoke up, looking around.

"Did what to her, how dare you not know! She's quiet! And has barely spoken a word since she came here! She's acting like a fucking rape victim, you bastards!" 3D yelled, face getting red.

No one had sat down yet, and while the food was still being passed around, everyone was glaring at the two men. Hope smiled weakly at the pure loyalty and protection that the pack had, even for former members. Her old-new family was amazing, and she was happy she could see them all again. It had been four years, since she got her job. She had been on her own for two of those four years, and she had missed them all. Even 3D, who was still an absolute prat.

Both Jack and the Doctor frowned, looking at Hope. Hope looked away, blushing because she knew it to be true. Dok wrote down what she needed to get or to do, with a few other suggestions and a list of things she couldn't help with.

"She's always been like that, since I've been there. I don't know about the Doctor…" Jack trailed off, unsure. When Jack looked at the Doctor, he saw the Doctor pale and looking sick.

"She didn't get raped before I got there. What made her like that, Doctor?" Jack asked, eyes hardening. He had a feeling he already knew the answer, and he didn't like it.

"I… I am so, so, sorry. I didn't realize- I didn't mean to ignore you so much that you gave up on… I am so sorry," the Doctor cried, shaking hands lifting before dropping once more.

Hope frowned, shaking her head.

"It's okay, Doctor. You didn't do anything wrong," Hope declared, eyes strong when meeting everyone else's in the room.

The street rats relaxed slightly when they saw her stare, knowing not to mess with her judgement.

Only two people ignored that stare, and they were the two to shove the Doctor outside and start beating him. Hope hissed and chased after 3D and Jack, grabbing two cans of tomato soup.

Hope ran forward, throwing one speeding can at the back of Jack's knee and the other hitting 3D's foot, tripping him as the Doctor fell back from the hits.

Jumping in front of the Doctor, who had been pushed into a corner, Hope bared her teeth at both Jack and 3D, only surprising Jack. 3D knew she did that often when utterly pissed and about ready to fight if the person didn't back off. Or if someone tried stealing her favorite food from her. Or many reasons, really. Hope was rather feral before the pack got to her, and some habits of hers never died.

"Try and hurt him one more time, see what happens," Hope snarled.

Jack looked like a stray kitten was threatening him because he had food.

Hope glowered and struggled as she was picked up and slung over Jack's shoulder. She stopped struggling soon, the blood rushing to her head and the low health exhausting her quickly.

"L-let go…" Hope panted, groaning as she gave up. Jack immediately shifted her into his arms, one under her knees and the other supporting her back.

"Not happening, sweetheart. Let's get you to a hospital." Jack didn't look at the Doctor as he walked away, towards the nearest hospital. He laughed when he saw the name of the hospital.

"Royal Hope Hospital, for a royal Hope. Fantastic." Jack said to Hope, only to find her skulking. He sighed heavily and walked in, getting a scowl from a nurse passing by.

"We don't serve runaways and urchins here. Don't know why you picked one up, but that filth doesn't belong here," the nurse sneered. Jack grinned at the nurse, it fading slightly when he saw her swoon.

"Oh, then why are you still in this hospital, when you're more filthy than Hope ever could be?" Jack said brightly. The nurse glared at him, before looking behind him and gasping.

"Oh my gawd! Sir, are you alright?" The nurse rushed up, and Jack turned to see the Doctor limping in, looking destroyed. Both emotionally and physically.

"Fine. I'm just here for a … a friend." The Doctor walked up to Jack, pain filling his eyes when Hope smiled weakly and waved happily at him.

"Hey, Doctor! 3D didn't hurt you anymore, did he? Are you okay? Set me down, gah, un, sst, hah!" Hope walked up to the Doctor, having escaped Jack's grasp.

 **Hope looked worried for him, and the Doctor stared at her, wondering once more how he got such a loyal friend.**

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _I felt bad after all of the reviews this got that I was planning on just leaving it there and marking it eternally incomplete, like my other stories are. (The ones on here are usually more than one shots, but unfinished, so cut down and made into one shots. Like the Angel's Diary, another of my DW fics.) I can't keep that one song "Doctor doctor" or whatever it's called out of my head, so I hope this reminds you of it and that you also have it stuck in your mind. I hadn't actually planned on continuing this, so the updates will be sporadic, and this might be one of the last chapters... There will be more, since all of this was just my attempt to get things back where they need to be. This will continue until I find a good place to stop it, so there might be fifty more chapters or there might be five more chapters, depending on when I stop being entertained, when I stop feeling bad about getting love and support from y'all, and when my ideas run out. Ooh, this is a long AN. I hate those. Sorry bro and broski's from the future for forcing you to get past this to get to the next chapter. Lolz, enjoy your lives, guys and gals! AN you later, or PM, or... Yeah. Bye, lolz. :D_


	8. Chapter 8

**Hope looked worried, and the Doctor stared at her, wondering once more how he got such a loyal friend.** Jack moved in front of Hope, taking her attention off of the Doctor, and set his hands on her shoulders, frowning when she almost collapsed at the familiar motion. He pushed it out of his mind and grinned at Hope.

"Long time no see, Hope. Good to see you again, honestly. Let's get you a room, now, before more rude nurses call you a street urchin when you aren't one," Jack asserted, glaring over Hope's shoulder at something before dragging her to the front desk.

Hope stood, glancing out the window. It was finally nighttime, and visitors had to leave. She turned off and unplugged the machines, making sure she would catch no attention as she snuck out of the damned prison of death that a hospital was.

She made it to the door before being picked up from behind and set back on the bed. She swore, confused, and when she looked she saw both the Doctor and Jack standing there like scolding parents. Hope would have snickered if she weren't so utterly bummed.

"Really? You guys… Utterly insane, the both of you," She muttered, shaking her head and frowning at them.

"If being insane means worrying about and protecting you then I'm the most insane man in the universe."

"No, that would be me, Doctor, no one cares about her more than I do."

Hope watched with some amusement as they quietly argued back and forth over who cared more. She secretly, not wanting to admit it, knew that Jack was the true winner of the argument, no matter who actually won. Her amusement only grew when a nurse walked in on the two. The nurse silently stood for a few seconds before sighing heavily, shaking her head.

"You two? Again? Out! No buts, out!" The nurse ordered, already grabbing their ears and dragging them before taking note of Hope, how she was unplugged, and how the machines were turned off.

"What are you doing? Did they do this? Ugh, boys. Here, let me get you plugged back in," the nurse uttered, letting go of the two men and walking forward. Hope held up her hand, looking a bit shocked and panicked.

"Oh! Wait! … Um, actually, I want to check out, like, now. I'm an adult and I can do that whenever, right?" Hope asked, unsure but still rather prepared to have an argument on the legal aspects of it that she barely knew.

The nurse stopped, looking from the two men who were silently watching, trying to be forgotten in a corner so they could get back to keeping Hope from leaving the hospital, back to Hope, who looked like she would drop dead any moment. She was displeased at what she was gathering from the scene.

"... I see. One of you is a doctor, right? She needs to be connected to the machines, but the heart monitor isn't entirely necessary. I wasn't here," the nurse claimed, walking out.

"What? You can't do that! That's not- I'm giving you a bad review on Yelp, you bhhh-" Hope's raised voice gave out on her, and both Jack and the Doctor were blocking her exit.

"I look forward to it, sweetie," the nurse remarked over her shoulder, getting a two-fingered salute to her back.

Hope tried swaying them with puppy-dog eyes, but neither budged. She sighed heavily, slumping back onto the uncomfortable bed. She really hated hospitals, but even she knew that she wasn't fast nor strong enough in her weakened state to escape both of them.

Hope wasn't prepared for the sudden hug, and both the Doctor and Jack noted how she violently tensed, relaxing after she confirmed that it was just the Doctor and Jack on either side of her.

It was silent for the rest of the night, Jack and the Doctor just hugging her until she fell asleep on the Doctor's shoulder. Jack noticed, but didn't say anything, just silently sighing. Even after everything they've been through, Hope still felt more comfortable with the Doctor, though not in the same way she was comfortable with Jack.

They slowly lowered her, tucking her in and kissing her temple before plugging her into the machines and silently walking out into the hallway, where they could speak without waking her up. Hope, being asleep, didn't notice that her almost instinctive knowledge of where they were and what they were speaking of faded. She dreamt of roses and thorns, her dreams affected by the words she was overhearing in her sleep.

When Hope woke up, it was to the sight of the Doctor and Jack pacing, looking worried. When they looked at her, she noted that they looked extremely stressed, but that they were happier to see her awake. Looking at the time, she saw that it was a bit after five, though whether it was am or pm was unknown to her.

Hope sat up, confused when Jack ran out to get a nurse or doctor, less focused on the irony than she rightly should've been when the Doctor walked up to her, looking like he had the month after Rose's departure, even with Hope's interference to make him take care of himself.

"Are you okay, Doctor?" Hope asked, efficiently disengaging many of the machines she knew did nothing even though they were connected to her besides make lots of ruckus when she took them off and walked over, hugging the Doctor. She wondered why she felt even weaker, before just assuming it was the hospital's fault. Everything was the hospital's fault.

"Is Rose on your mind again? Are you okay? You should take better care of yourself, I swear," Hope muttered in a calming voice, rubbing one hand up and down the Doctor's back like one usually did for comfort. She felt like a creep for doing it, but continued since the Doctor relaxed in her hold, hugging her back.

Before he could reply, a doctor, not the, strided in, Jack and a few med students following.

"Oh, so you're finally awake, then. Good, if you'd kindly sit down so I can see how you're doing. You must be feeling weak, you've been in a coma for a month, so try not to do any strenuous activities today." The doctor ordered, frowning when Hope sat in a chair and not on the hospital bed. He sighed heavily, shoving one of the student's forward.

"Miss Jones," he drawled, "please, go ahead and amaze me."

The black medic-in-training stepped forward, "That wasn't very clever, running around outside, was it?" She asked, and Hope looked confused.

"Er, what? Lay off the acid, mate, I wasn't anywhere besides in bed because of those two. Plus, I apparently just woke from a month long coma about a minute ago," Hope muttered, speaking kindly even if her words weren't. Miss Jones looked insulted, but let it go. She was curious why Hope apologized, but put it off since it was obvious she wouldn't get any answers.

"You were with both of them, though!" Miss Jones claimed, "And they called you Hope, too, so I know it wasn't a sister or something!"

"Time passes and I grow ever more infirm and weary, Miss Jones," the rude doctor commented, and Miss Jones apologized, putting a stethoscope to Hope's chest.

Miss Jones looked uncertain, looking up at Hope, only to get a raised brow.

"I weep for future generations. Are you having trouble locating the heart, Miss Jones?" the rude doctor asked. Miss Jones panicked, and shrugged.

"Er, I don't know. Coma?" Miss Jones suggested.

"That is a symptom, not a diagnosis. And you rather failed basic techniques by not consulting first with the patient's chart," the rude doctor snapped, getting zapped by his metal clipboard.

"That happened to me this morning," Miss Jones noted, looking curious.

"I had the same thing on the door handle," another inputted.

"And me, on the lift," another added to the other's comment.

"That's only to be expected. There's a thunderstorm moving in and lightning is a form of static electricity, as was first proven by. Anyone?" The rude doctor asked, and the Doctor piped in.

"Benjamin Franklin."

"Correct," the rude doctor said.

"My mate, Ben. That was a day and a half. I got rope burns off that kite, and then I got soaked."

"Quite."

"And then I got electrocuted."

"Moving on. I think perhaps a visit from psychiatric for that man. And next we have…" The rude doctor continued, moving on. Miss Jones, Jack, the Doctor, and Hope exchanged grins as Jones moved away.

"... You know, I think that doctor had a point, Doctor. Want to take a stride into the psychiatric ward with me?" Jack flirted, and Hope chuckled at his antics.

"How you manage to make every single sentence sound like a flirt is beyond me…" Hope thought for nary a moment, "Actually, I'm a quick learner, can I have a few tips?" Hope asked, grinning at Jack as he beamed at her, opening his mouth only for the Doctor to cover it.

"No, not happening. No, just… No. I will _not_ have two flirts aboard my TARDIS." The Doctor glared sternly at both of them, before the tension broke and they all laughed.

"Ah, it'll happen one day, Doctor," Hope insisted, thinking of a curly-haired badass she met once as a kid who told her of many great and wonderful adventures.

She had mentioned the Doctor, and she was rather flirty, and she also mentioned her mom was rather flirty too, and there was no way that both of them haven't been on the TARDIS at once.

Actually, now that Hope thought about it, maybe Euphony Brook, nicknamed Sea-sound, was just talking about a regular doctor, since there was no way that "sweetie" applied to the Doctor, because while he was epic, he was not all that sweet, being rather rude most of the time.

Or maybe she was talking about a different aspect of the Doctor…?

Hope gained a dreamy smirk, deciding that she would call and ask about the nickname later. Whether it was about her Doctor or not, it'd be an awesome story.

"Hey, don't leave me out of your fantasies, do tell," Jack implored, picking Hope up before sitting on the bed and plopping Hope on his lap. Hope grinned.

"Just thinking of a curly-haired badass I once knew. I haven't called her in a while, and the talks of flirts reminded me of her. Ah, it's too bad she's taken, Jack, or I'd be after that so badly… Hm, maybe… That would work…" Hope trailed off, a glazed look in her eyes as she gazed through the Doctor, who had sat down in the chair next to her bed. Jack chuckled, grinning down at her.

"As long as I meet her before you two do anything, I'll allow it."

"What? No! Hope's still young, there's no way that she's dating some flirty fuckgirl who'll just play her!" The Doctor commanded, and both Jack and Hope looked at him, Hope deflating and accepting his ruling and Jack raising an eyebrow and rolling his eyes.

Suddenly Jones walked in, on the phone, and they all decided to play a quiet game of who can think of the biggest English word that has an acceptable definition. So far the Doctor was in the lead with hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia, the fear of long words.

They were writing the stuff on a scrap of paper. Or rather, what they all considered scrap paper but was actually a, not the, doctor's notes on her condition. Suddenly the Doctor straightened and wrote a sentence down.

"There are plasma coils building up around the hospital, I think you should get to the TARDIS and rest, Hope. Jack can take you and I'll -" The Doctor couldn't continue when Hope ripped the pen and paper out of his hands and scribbled down a hasty but firm denial.

"If you think I'm missing a dangerous life-threatening adventure just because you can't deal with yourself then you really do need a visit to the psychiatric ward, Doctor. You've never cared before, and I was okay just going along helping you, but the moment you try and limit me from helping you is the moment I go against your orders, mate."

Jack coughed, and they both looked at him only to see him pointing out the window.

"I don't think you have much of a choice, Doctor. That's an H2O scoop, if I recall correctly, and your TARDIS isn't in the building," Jack said, already knowing that nothing good would come from Hope running around the hospital with them, "Sorry, Hope, but this is for the best."

 **Hope didn't even have a chance to look betrayed as Jack drugged her with hospital drugs, and she was out like a light.**

 _Author's Note:_ _Sorry it took so long... I have no excuses, but if it helps this chapter would be way different had I done it any differently. Hey, question, I had planned on writing the entire episode out, adding the appropriate ripples and changes that Hope and Jack being there would make, but I felt like Jack is more in character doing this, since neither he nor the Doctor have the most conventional ways of protecting those they love. (The Doctor plopped Rose back into the alternate universe for f's sake... ... I have a feeling I've already sworn multiple times... Whoops.) I actually have quite a few questions on what you guys like... Sorry for the lengths, by the by. I can't exactly make them much longer if you want semi quick updates, but I can most certainly triple or quadruple the sizes if you want them to be longer. Oh no, another long Author's Note... Sorry, Alias Army... I rather like that term for you guys, do you mind it?_

 _QUESTIONS FOR YOU GUYS AND GALS:_

 _Do you want me to rewrite the last few sentences and make it so Hope joins in on this adventure?_

 _Do you guys and gals mind me swearing?_

 _Do you want more original adventures than canon adventures, do you want wild changes but canon adventures, or do you guys and gals want canon adventures with Hope as a helpful add-on? (or others, if there are other options I haven't thought of) (And Jack, who, er, wasn't exactly planned. He's a happy mistake, honestly. I had no clue what I was doing... But yeah, happy mistakes.)_

 _Also, do any of you guys and gals have any advanced scientific theory that the Doctor may know? I'm running out of fluffy in betweens, and the Doctor isn't the Doctor without advanced scientific theory... And taking stuff outta Game Theory feels kinda cheaty, lolz._

 _Do you want me to do that end of chapter review answering, or are you okay with me just PMing you?_

 _Last, and most importantly, Did you enjoy the chapter? And the holidays? I hope you did. Genuinely. You matter, bro, sis, buddy, friend._


	9. Chapter 9

**Hope didn't even have a chance to look betrayed as Jack drugged her with hospital drugs, and she was out like a light.** When she woke up, it was to a distinct lack of air, and she gasped and fell out of her bed, crawling towards the door and looking out to hear utter chaos.

Everyone was lacking air, now, and Hope worried over the Doctor and Jack, Jack who was in the room fainted and the Doctor, who was gasping and carrying the woman who was on drugs earlier to the windows.

Hope snickered as her vision went dark. The Doctor had already found someone else to focus on. At least the medic-in-training seemed pretty cool, Hope knew she'd like the medic, if she survived the suffocation.

Hope woke up gasping and coughing, like most people did when recovering from suffocation. Not Jack, though, which made her happy for him. The lucky man.

"It's okay, you're okay," Jack tried, only for Hope to wave him off as she stood, feeling an odd shake in her lungs before she could breathe properly again.

"Aheh," Hope smiled at him, shaking her head and giving him a hug. She had figured that out herself, but she didn't think she needed to say that. She truly did miss him, and while the Doctor didn't exactly give her time to mourn, she was constantly thinking of him. He hugged her tight, and when they released each other they both took in their surroundings.

Jack walked with her, arm over her shoulders like he knew she liked even though she never admitted it, and they left the hospital. They went towards the TARDIS, and physically ran into the Doctor, who was just around the corner, striding their way.

He looked at them, taking note of Jack's arm around Hope, "Basically family, huh?"

Hope, feeling oddly innocent, looked at the Doctor, confused, "What?" Suddenly their _way_ earlier conversation came to mind, and she felt even more confused, "Oh… Yeah…?"

The Doctor didn't look convinced, and they all walked into the TARDIS, Hope only noticing Jack's arm around her when he took it off, taking away her extra comfort.

"Oh! Oh, yeah, no," Hope muttered to herself, closing the TARDIS doors behind her. Jack overheard, chuckling at her assertment.

"You know, if you weren't in love with the Doctor, I'd think you were solidly gay, with how little you care about other men," Jack stated, and Hope thought about it for a moment.

"Nah, I'm solidly straight, but have a finer appreciation for the looks of women than the looks of men. Well, besides Sea-sound, she can turn anyone gay," She decided on, and Jack looked slightly surprised before laughing it off and walking with her towards the console of the TARDIS, where the Doctor was standing, deep in thought, staring at the screen of the TARDIS.

Hope decided not to bother him, and left to take a shower and generally get rid of all of the grime and smells that were stuck on her. She was interrupted from brushing through her hair and taming it from the three month long abandonment when Jack walked in.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked, dropping the brush that she was readying to throw across the room and turning to face Jack. She didn't really want to cut it, now that it was long, but she would have to.

"The Doctor wants to bring Martha on an adventure, as a thank you for saving his and the rest of the hospital's life." Jack replied. Hope shrugged, not seeing the problem with it.

"Martha? Was that the nurse on acid earlier? What's wrong with her?" She picked up the brush once more, brushing through her hair a bit before finally just tossing the brush away and leaving the bathroom to get scissors from the Doctor.

Jack followed, looking disappointed, "Of course you don't mind. He's doing it again! He's going to have her join him for one adventure, and then another, and another, and you'll be forgotten about and abandoned!" He snapped, and Hope shrugged again.

"Yeah, and? … To be entirely honest, Jack, it kind of makes me anxious whenever he pays me any mind with other people around. It's just not right, you know?" Hope answered, not noticing the growing look of anger, "Plus, I think Miss Jones is nice. Why shouldn't she go on an adventure or more?"

"You thought Martha was on acid," Jack said flatly.

"Well, she was, wasn't she? Just because Martha does drugs doesn't mean she's a bad person," Hope replied, noticing that the Doctor wasn't in the console room and walking towards the door.

"I'm _not_ a druggie," a feminine voice claimed, and Hope looked to see Martha and the Doctor standing there.

"Ah. Yeah, you kind of are, unless someone else drugged you up?" Hope put her hands up in a 'what can you do?' gesture. Jack closed the door behind them, Martha giving them a look.

Martha looked exasperated, but not offended. She understood that her claims earlier were a bit stretched, and the nurses told her that all three of them were in the room earlier that day. Though she was curious why every nurse she talked to about that room acted all giggly.

"I just thought since you saved my life and I've got a brand new sonic screwdriver which needs road testing, you might fancy a trip," the Doctor continued, more to stop the arguing than anything else.

"Oh, there he goes, see? I told you, stop him now, or he'll do it again!" Jack whispered to Hope, though it was rather pointless, since everyone heard him.

The Doctor turned and looked at them, gaze unsure. Martha hesitated in her answer, also looking at them. Hope, who was now the center of attention, looked at each of them, before turning to Martha, unsure.

"... Well? Are you coming with us or not?" She asked, face red as the Doctor's relieved stare and Jack's disappointed one burned into her sides.

The Doctor turned towards Martha, who went back to thinking about it.

"What, into space?" She asked.

"Well," the Doctor said.

"But I can't. I've got exams. I've got things to do. I have to go into town first thing and pay the rent, I've got my family going mad," Martha replied, dejected.

"If it help-"

"There you have it, she said no, let's go!" Jack ordered loudly, guiding Hope and the Doctor towards the box.

"Oi! I'm not done yet! Ahem, if it helps, we can travel in time as well." He finished, having shrugged off Jack's grip.

"Get out of here" Martha denied.

"We can," the Doctor said.

"Come on now, that's going too far," Martha denied once more.

Jack looked ready to interject once more and herd everyone into the TARDIS when the Doctor spoke up again.

"I'll prove it," he stated, and they all walked into the TARDIS, leaving Martha behind as the Doctor takes them to prove it.

Hope stumbled out of the blue box, looking around confused until the Doctor guided them to Martha.

"It's earlier this morning, Hope. She wasn't lying," Jack said, and Hope looked at the confused Martha.

"See? Now Hope's wearing it," The Doctor said, putting his tie around her neck and leading them away.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I thought… Sorry," Hope called, before they all walked to get to the later Martha.

Right before they dematerialized, Jack stopped the Doctor.

"Doctor, wait. Are you sure you want Martha there? You barely spend any mind on Hope when it's just her and I, are you sure you can handle-"

"Oh! Yeah, where are there scissors? I need to cut my hair," Hope interjected, not noticing that Jack had been muttering something to the Doctor.

The Doctor looked at Jack, determined, "Yes. There are some in the wardrobe."

Hope walked off, and Jack and the Doctor waited for a few moments before following her when they realized what she meant. Both Jack and the Doctor rushed to stop Hope before she cut all of her hair off, Jack pulling the scissors from her grip and the Doctor blocking the mirror.

"Ah ah, no. If you want your hair cut we can go to the hairdressers," Jack stated, and Hope looked mildly confused.

She was just going to cut it so that it was an emo cut, since that was the only cut she knew how to do. The homeless community had a lot of edgy teenagers in it at a time, and Hope was the only one who regularly had scissors on her, leaving it up to her to learn the three different cuts that were requested. An even trim for girls, an even trim for boys, and an edgy emo cut.

Hope figured that the "emo" cut would look rather okay on her, seeing as it was the only one that dealt with uneven and knotted hair that was impossible to brush through. It dealt with hair close to the scalp, and choppy hair, which is what would happen.

"Uh, me cutting it is just as good?" Hope asked, insulted when Jack shook his head. She frowned but didn't say anything. Yeah, it was probably true.

"Okay… But the knots are kind-of an issue…" Hope muttered quietly, not liking how she was being stared at by both the Doctor and Jack. She wondered where all her self-confidence from earlier was, and realized it was probably the drugs and her tiredness. Hope felt ashamed, that she couldn't even muster up any self-confidence anymore without being extremely exhausted or drugged up.

"Oh! Is that why you're cutting your hair?" The Doctor asked, jogging a bit away before running back, "Here, there's a brush made by the Babbledreds, named by humans since they had no name for themselves, it unknots your hair while you brush through it!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Hope looked blankly at the brush. Maybe if she stared long enough, blankly enough, it would set itself on fire for not appearing sooner.

Jack, knowledgeable of the look on Hope's face, laughed and took the brush from the Doctor, who looked slightly confused.

"Staring at it won't make it appear any sooner, Hope. Come on, let's get back to your room," Jack suggested, and the Doctor's expression quickly changed from innocent confusion to determined outrage.

"Hold on, why are you going to her room with her?" He demanded, and both Jack and Hope stared at him for a moment. Even with how perverted they both were, neither had any clue what he was suggesting at for a few moments.

"... Because I am?" Jack said, confusion in his expression and voice. Hope felt confused as well, and wondered what the hell was going on.

Suddenly, it clicked, and Hope couldn't help but let out a sound of quiet disgust, "Oh, _ew_."

At her words, Jack took only a moment more to understand, and his face also twisted in disgust before hardening as he glared at the Doctor.

"You never cared for her before, and now that you finally do you're trying to control her life decisions? You don't have that right, Doctor, even if we _were_ dating," Jack snapped, dragging a mortified Hope away.

Once they were far enough away, Hope, who had become a tomato, turned to Jack. "Jack, why do you _always_ do this? It's fine. Really. I mean, the fact that he even cares enough to try and control me is good, right?" Hope asked, her voice low and quiet.

"No. It's not. I'm not having you go from one abusive friendship to another, with him. If he's going to pretend to care for you, he's going to do it right, Hope."

"... Pretend?" Hope whispered, head lowering as she stared at the ground. Of course he was pretending, why would someone as amazing as him _ever_ lower himself to caring for someone like her? No, she was just there to make him feel better and help him through his angst. That's _it_.

Hope shouldn't expect the Doctor to actually care for her, no. That she was beginning to just showed how selfish and narcissistic she was being. Hope was determined to not make the same mistake.

Jack, meanwhile, looked like he had made a severe mistake, and was grimacing. He didn't try taking the words back, because he knew that Hope wouldn't believe him. He just hoped the damage done wasn't too bad. Jack's grimace rose a moment, and Jack stopped dragging Hope along the corridors of the TARDIS.

"Hope, I'm going to go and get a few things, to help you dress up and stuff, I'll be back," Jack lied as he sprinted towards wherever the Doctor might be. He had to tell the Doctor, or whatever the Doctor did would just make it worse.

Hope stood still for a moment, looking around to see that Jack was taking her the wrong way to her room. Of course, how could he know that Hope's room had moved to better serve the Doctor? He had been long gone by then.

On the walk to her room, Hope's mind was running around and trying to fix the damage that had been done. She had actually thought that the Doctor cared for her, and she had to make sure it never happened again. She might lose sight of her self-induced mission. Help the Doctor, stay by his side, and never leave, even by death.

Her room was dark when she walked in, and Hope didn't bother turning on the light as she walked to the bathroom. She flipped the light on there, and brushed through her hair, watching as it fell in glamorous waves of unknotted hair. She then went and tidied herself up even more, before looking in the mirror and seeing a healthy young woman that she could barely believe was herself.

Hope poked the mirror, confused, only to see her reflection do the same thing. Hope wondered how her cheeks and other bone-thin areas had filled out in the month, before realizing that there were probably ways to keep comatose patients from looking like skeletons.

She no longer looked like the devil had decided to mix a raccoon and a bat with a messy-haired human chick. She no longer looked like shit, and like a bird had made its home in her oily and dark hair. Hope could honestly say that she looked better than she ever had, and she wondered if this was a trick of the mirror.

Of course, she still wasn't at her best, but she was no longer at her worst either. Her dark hair, which she never really guessed the color of but presumed to be black or brown, was no longer knotted or oily, and had a healthy look to it as it rested at her lower-back. Her chapped lips had a pinkish red color to them, and her cheeks had color in them, making her seem lively. The bags under her eyes had subsided, and her eyes were no longer sunken. The hazel green orbs looked healthier, and had lost their tired and darkened tones.

All in all, she looked like a normal person, which surprised her. She glanced at her chapped lips, and wondered when she stopped using chapstick on them regularly. Probably around the time Rose left, she guessed. Hope walked away from the mirror, grabbing a tube of chapstick from the drawer in the nightstand.

"Hey-" A voice called, and Hope threw something at them while jumping, "Hahah, sorry for scaring you, Hope. Chapstick? Ooh, strawberry flavor, you planning on kissing anyone? Maybe that sexy lady you were talking about?" Jack asked, smirking at Hope.

Hope gave a small grin, shaking her head, "It's fine. No, not at the moment, though your suggestion is … Well, a great idea, in my opinion, if said woman didn't wear poisoned lipstick half the time."

Jack looked surprised before laughing at Hope's words, tossing the chapstick back to her. Hope's grin strengthened, before fading to a soft smile. A soft smile that faded so Hope could apply the chapstick. She had standards, however small they were.

Plus, if she didn't use it, and her lips were chapped, she'd always chew on the skin and make her lips bleed.

Jack stared at her a moment, confused, before shaking his head. Hope noticed but didn't say anything, then she saw a bag of items, and paused.

"... What's that for?" She asked quietly, gesturing to the bag of items. Jack looked down before grinning.

"Oh! I decided that I was going to dress you up. You know, apply makeup, put you in some fancy clothes- well, a fancy jacket and t-shirt with nice jeans, I guess, and then do your hair and stuff. I missed you, and we have a _lot_ of girl-talk to make up for," Jack decided, and Hope couldn't help the amused look that crossed her face.

"What?" Jack asked, easy grin on his face.

"I just didn't know that you were into, haha, didn't know you were into dress-up. Should I get you a barbie for your birthday?" Hope teased, chuckling, and Jack's face lit up as he laughed.

The Doctor strided in, pausing when he saw Hope and Jack laughing heavily at something they had been talking about, his tie still around Hope's neck. He smiled at that, before frowning when he remembered that Hope thought he didn't care for her, thanks to a comment from Jack.

"Hey! Jack, Hope, … Are we going to get Martha now or do you two want to go get some food first? I was thinking, there was this nice fast food place on Barcelona..." The Doctor started, before losing his train of thought when Hope and Jack turned around to look at him.

Both of them were done up, makeup done on both of them, glitter covering Jack's front, black shirt sure to need to be replaced, and Hope looked rather beautiful for a human, despite the giant puddle of glitter on the floor around them, an empty tube in Jack's hands and glitter covering Hope's.

Neither of them looked ashamed as both Hope and Jack grinned at him, before looking at each other, their grins turning mischievous as they slowly got up, glitter now piled in both their hands, which were behind their backs. The Doctor didn't look all that suspicious, though he realized he probably should have been.

"Heheh, hey, Doctor?" Hope asked, voice confident even as low as it was.

"Yes?" He asked, looking to Hope. That was his first mistake, he later realized with a goofy smile.

"Wh-heheh- what's your favorite color out of the two? Dark blue or silver?" Hope asked, grinning slyly at him. Jack was chuckling as well, and the Doctor finally started looking a bit suspicious. He felt like he should be worried over something obvious.

"Dark blue, why?" He answered quickly, only to get his answer as dark blue glitter suddenly covered him, silver quickly following. It took him only a moment to realize what happened, looking to Jack, and then the rather glitterless Hope, who had only gotten glitter on her hands and pants.

He grinned, opening his arms wide.

"Oh, Hope," He uttered, reminding Hope of the times when he was about to put his enemies in checkmate, "Glitter! Brilliant, I love glitter!" He praised, and Hope's grin couldn't get any wider, nor could Jack's.

"But… I don't think you meet the glitter requirements," The Doctor finishes, voice severe in a joking manner. Hope's expression turned to joyful shock as she stumbled back.

"Oh, no no no no no," She giggled, crouching down and picking up more glitter, "I think you just don't have enough glitter on yourself, mister."

They all fell into a tangled pile, laughing, glitter covering their forms from head to toe, blue and silver.

"Best. Glitter war. Ever," Jack told Hope and the Doctor, both agreeing, "Hahaha, now, I don't know about you two, but I'm starving. Let's go to that place in Barcelona."

They walked into the restaurant, everyone giving them odd looks. All of them were grinning, exchanging stories loudly about impossible tasks that they've apparently gone through, and trying to get a table, covered in glitter as they were.

"May I help you, sirs, ma'am…?" A waiter who looked like this wasn't his job to deal with and desperately wished he didn't have to deal with it.

"Ah, yes, table for three uh, humanoids," The Doctor said, nodding officially before turning back to Hope and Jack, "I don't understand why I have to call myself humanoid! I came first!" He whinged.

Jack rolled his eyes, but Hope just shrugged, grin not fading, "How about, when we're alone, instead of us mere humans calling such a great and powerful being such as yourself "humanoid", we call ourselves lordians, yeah? Or lordioids… That sounds a bit odd, though."

The Doctor grinned, "Lordioids, hah! I like that. Great idea!"

"Anyway, now that that's over, I was talking about the one time a princess wanted to get in bed with me, and I was all for it, but afterwards I was told that she would have to kill me!" He said, and they all laughed as they followed the green blobby alien in a suit to their table.

Jack continued his story, and they continued exchanging stories of a similar funny calibre, even Hope pitching in with some adventures she's had before she met the Doctor. Both Jack and the Doctor wanted to know more about the mysterious sexy lady that made their humble little Hope swoon when even Jack nor the Doctor could do so.

By the end of their meal, in which they all had an excellent time talking and feasting, they all knew quite a bit more about each other, including that Hope has hero worship for Sea, which was stronger than her determination and love of the Doctor. Though, of course, Hope would sooner jump in front of a bullet for the Doctor than for Sea.

"Wait, didn't you say you needed to call her? Why don't you do that now? Let us meet this illustrious lady," Jack said, charming grin on full blast. Hope frowned a bit, grin lessening.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. She's a criminal, obviously, so don't expect the best," Hope shrugged, pulling out her phone, but was interrupted by the waiter.

"Hello! Are you done?" He asked brightly, smile at maximum capacity, and acting like he's been the best waiter ever. Hope had a feeling he was rather excited for them to leave.

"Oh, yeah, we should probably do this elsewhere, huh?" Jack said, and they all stood up and stretched out before ambling back to the TARDIS, still talking and laughing.

When they arrived, they all crowded around Hope's phone, which was ringing.

"River here, hello Hope," A sultry voice drawled, and Hope immediately blushed and grinned.

"Hey! I knew you were using an alias! What sort of person has the name of "Sea" in English? Hi! Hello! I'm here and wanna introduce you to my two friends! They wanna meet you and don't know you but they're cool so they won't hurt you," Hope spewed, not giving herself a breath until after that. Both Jack and the Doctor were surprised at her enthusiasm, though they didn't exactly find it unbelievable, what with Hope's stories.

"Calm down, darling. Where and when are you, I'll be there soon," River chuckled at Hope's usual enthusiasm, before her chuckle froze in her throat.

"Wait, I dunno, uh, Doctor, when and where are we?" Hope asked, and the Doctor looked incredulous.

"Some human isn't going to be able to come here!"

"Try me," River managed to say confidently, only for Hope to frown, worried.

"The year three-billion, Canchik, Barcelona, a nice restaurant called Junis. The planet." The Doctor challenged, only for Hope to rapidly wave at him to shut him up.

"Wait why are you sad? What happened? Do you need a hug? Are you okay? Did your doctor do something to make you sad again? Is he ignoring you?" Hope asked rapid-fire, and there was a knock on the door of the TARDIS.

"I could use a hug, if you'd open the door," River answered, and Hope forgot about her phone, Jack quickly catching it as Hope ran to the doors and jump-tackling someone, dragging them inside and speaking miles-a-minute while hugging them and checking on them.

River beared it with a patient smile, and both the Doctor and Jack looked at Hope, frozen in shock.

"I-Is that what she's usually like?" Jack managed to ask, River smirking at him as she pat Hope on the head, Hope jumping in excitement and grinning at River.

"Not this excited with anyone else, but if you're asking about her personality, then yes, she's a chatterbox. I thought you said these were your friends, why don't they know what you're like?" River answered then asked. Hope slowly stopped jumping, grin fading as she shrugged.

"I uh, I'm not really like that, anymore, Sss- River," Hope muttered, before grinning again and leading her over to the Doctor and Jack.

"Hi! Hi! This is Jack and this is the Doctor- is he yours, by the way? -if he is he doesn't know you, which sucks but now he does know you so that's okay right and - mmph," Hope started, only for River to kiss her, and Hope grinned goofily, fainting.

"There you are," River said, smirking as she picked up Hope, "That works every time."

River handed Hope to Jack, before turning to the Doctor, smirk still in place. She turned her head to Hope for a moment.

"To your questions, yes, he's mine, no, he doesn't know me yet. Your optimism never fails to amaze me, sweetheart. Now, how do I look?" River asked Jack, smirk in place as his gaze roved over her.

"She said you wore poisoned lipstick, if you poisoned our Hope we're going to have a problem," Jack threatened.

"You're right, he's covered in glitter, of course he doesn't care how I look," River replied, ignoring the threat to turn back to the Doctor, mischievous smirk in place, " **Hello Sweetie."**

 _Author's Note:_ _Sorry this took so long, guys, I wanted to give you guys a longer chapter, and only finished the chapter today. There was a bit of fluff, a bit of angst, and a lotta glitter. Sorry if that's not your cup of tea, but hey, at least you can be back in time for it, right? ... Heh, DW references in a DW fic. Brilliant. Um, River was unintentional, I actually planned to get back to Martha by the end of this chapter, but... Well... ... What's with it and characters randomly popping in? I mean... Sorry, hahaha. And Hope. Now you know why the other street rats were freaking out so much, when she's usually like that, haha. Oh, poor Doctor, I wonder what River will do when she finds out what Hope's like, and who made her that way. I might have another chapter out soon, because I have a pretty set line for how to continue, after the fluff is almost done, haha._

 _RESPONSE TO REVIEWS:_

 _ **Son of Whitebeard:**_ Jack takes commandn

 _ **Why yes, yes he does. That's just who he is, though, haha.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **TacoXI:**_ In answer to your questions:

No, it's fine the way you have it. You can allow Hope to have more options when she wakes up this way. Plus, in this situation, I feel that the Doctor and Jack would've done just what you had them do.

Not really. It lets your characters express themselves, and the same with you. However, I suspect the Doctor would not curse in the way you wrote. I don't think he would at all, ever.

I like the idea of happy mistakes. And I'd like you to write more episodes that you made up, but still include some of the actual aliens. It's a fan fiction, so you write what you want to happen.

Not exactly, no. But you could include something on the subject of Q-stars.

End of chapter is fine. We're all more likely to check there than in messages.

Yes, I loved this chapter. And I did enjoy the holidays immensely.

Thanks for the update! I await the next one! :)

 _ **That's good, haha. Thank you for enjoying my story.**_

 _ **He does curse, actually, but I admit, as the 10th, he probably wouldn't...**_

 _ **Glad you like the idea of happy mistakes, I have a feeling I'll make a lot of them... Like this one, heh.**_

 _ **Brilliant! I love that you had a great holiday!**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **time-twilight:**_ I love this story. Plz update soon.

 _ **Is six days soon? If not, I deeply and sincerely apologize. Thank you so much for loving my story, haha, I hope you continue enjoying it.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **That's Balderdash:**_ Absolutely amazing! Utterly amazing

 _ **Why thank you very much. I do try hard.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **BlackbloodedSoul2:**_ This is a strange concept, but quite intriguing. I look forward to where this all leads.

 _ **I know I already responded to this (I hope), but here's another response, haha. Yes, I found that I'm rather good at making weird concepts, being a weirdo myself, haha.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**"Hello Sweetie."**

The Doctor stared at her blankly. Hope had told them, in that time, that River was married to a doctor, he just didn't think that the doctor was him. He could only think to say one thing.

"Covered in glitter?" He looked down at himself, then at Hope and Jack, and made a realization, "Oh, _that's_ why we were being stared at so much!"

Jack seemed to have made the same realization, because he started laughing, and Hope woke up from her faint. She stared at Jack for a moment, squirming out of his grip and standing up, brushing herself off, before glancing at her glitter-covered form with a small smile, before it faded.

"Oh, whoops. Sorry Doctor, I got your tie covered in glitter," Hope muttered softly, and the Doctor, mouth twitching, stared at her, his tie around her neck, then her again, before clearing his throat.

"Ah, yes, you did, didn't you?" The Doctor coughed, "Well, how am I ever going to live with a tie full of glitter? My suit must be so disappointed to be left out of the party." He managed before he and Jack burst into laughter, Hope quickly getting it and blushing, chuckling.

"Oh, yeah, you're full of glitter too, huh?" She said in her usual soft voice. River looked around fondly, before turning to Jack.

"I'm sorry, we haven't met. River," She introduced, a nice smile on her face.

"Jack," Jack flirted, and the Doctor stared at them for a bit.

"There's two of them," He muttered to himself. Hope heard and grinned.

"Nah, River is cooler," Hope denied, stars in her eyes. The Doctor glanced at her to see her in total hero-worship mode, smile set on her face and eyes glittering. As well as the rest of her.

"Ahem, anyway, we should probably get going, and you should probably leave," The Doctor said, River looking over at him.

"Oh, sure, where do you need to go, Jack? We can take you there," River said. Hope gaped at the Doctor.

"You're kicking her off? B-but why?" She asked, and the Doctor looked at Hope, who looked rather devastated.

"He means you, Hermione," Jack stated, and Hope looked at Jack, River also looking at Jack.

"Because she knows my future," The Doctor answered, and Hope's gaze snapped back to his as she scowled.

"Oh, so if I met your past self and you didn't know me you'd kick me out? Typical," Hope muttered, before turning and walking over to River and Jack, "Hey, is that all you can do? That insult was… Weak… why are you insulting her anyway?"

Jack looked at her, tense, and River laughed, shaking her head.

"It's okay, Hope. I need to go anyway. It was nice meeting you, Jack, and I hope it was nice meeting me, Sweetie." River nodded to them and power-walked out, Hope's gaze following her, a small smile on her face.

"She's so cool~," Hope admitted to herself, and the Doctor, looking slightly disturbed, ran around the console, TARDIS wheezing into view for Martha, a few seconds after they left.

Forgetting they all were covered in glitter, they all walked towards the door, and stepped out.

The Doctor pulled his tie up and off of Hope, gesturing to it, "Told you."

Martha stared at them blankly, nodding.

"I can accept that, there's no way that Hope could suddenly have untangled hair in the three seconds, it takes me half an hour just to do my hair. … And the fact that there's _no_ way you three would be able to get that much glitter on yourselves in that time. Oh, my God. You can travel in time. Oh! That thing this morning. Did you? But hold on. If you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?" Martha asked, and once more they all glanced at themselves and each other.

"So, we forgot about that again," Hope muttered, trying to brush herself off, "Hey, I apologized for that acid stuff."

"Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden, right Doctor?" Jack added.

"Right. Except for cheap tricks," the Doctor finished.

Martha looked at all of them, having a feeling that her life would get hectic from then on.

"And that's your spaceship?" She asked. They all glanced at Sexy.

"It's called the TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."

"It means life," Hope added, shrugging at the Doctor's curious glance.

"It's a scientific marvel," Jack input, and Hope felt like she was a part of something, and felt awesome. Not like good, but like she was doing a cool pose in a superhero movie.

"Your spaceship's made of wood. There's not much room. We'd be a bit intimate," Martha stated, and Hope snickered as the Doctor gestured silently at the box, giving Hope a disapproving stare that went right through her, for she was looking at Jack.

The Doctor felt oddly ignored. He frowned at Jack, before focusing on Martha.

"But it's just a box. It's huge!" Martha said, going in and out of the TARDIS. They all walked inside, Jack and Hope whispering and snickering to each other.

"How does it do that? It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in. It's bigger on the inside," Martha stated.

"Is it? Hadn't noticed!" The Doctor said, sarcasm filling his voice as he bursts into action, closing the doors and striding towards the console.

"Close, it's dimensionally transcendental, not a room shoved in the box, but an entire dimension," Hope whispered to Martha. Martha gaped at Hope.

"Right then, let's get going," The Doctor said, staring at Martha expectantly.

"But is there a crew, like a navigator and stuff? Where is everyone?" Martha asked, and the Doctor shrugged, not physically reacting to the words.

"Just us."

"All on your own?"

"Three's better than two, and two is better than one," Hope claimed, and Jack nodded.

"Well, sometimes I have guests. I mean some friends, travelling alongside. I had. There was recently, a friend of mine. Rose, her name was. Rose. And we were together. Anyway." The Doctor said, and Hope and Jack glanced at each other, Hope accepting it, and Jack not.

"Hey there, Hope here's been with you for a while. Longer than Rose, anyway, and I'm not planning on leaving any time soon," Jack said, frowning at the Doctor, who frowned back.

"Right, where is she now?" Martha started slowly, both Hope and her confused at what was going on.

"With her family. Happy. She's fine. She's. Not that you're replacing her," The Doctor said, and Hope scoffed a bit too loudly.

"Right, like she's not going through and trying to get back to you as we speak," Hope said bitterly.

"Never said I was replacing her…?" Martha stated, glancing at the bitter Hope, the angry Jack, and the annoyed Doctor. What did she just get herself into?

"Just one trip to say thanks. You get one trip, then back home. I'd rather be on my own."

"Oh, so we're chopped liver now?" Jack snapped, and the Doctor glared at Jack before looking away. Hope's bitter expression blanked out, and she sighed.

"It's not usually like this, Martha," Hope explained.

"Right, because he was the one who kissed _me_ ," Martha said, looking worried when Jack's glare sharpened and Hope flinched, looking down.

"That was a genetic transfer," The Doctor pointed sternly at Martha, drawling.

Hope could find amusement in the scene that was playing out before her, even if Jack couldn't.

"If you will wear a tight suit," Martha teased.

"Now, don't!" The Doctor said, going around and fiddling with the console, preparing it for flight. Or just flipping random switches around the console to get away from Martha.

Hope started snickering, walking to be next to Jack. Jack looked at her, confused and irritated.

"And then travel all the way across the universe just to ask me on a date," Martha continued, enjoying the Doctor's reactions. He reeled back before glaring at her, Martha's amusement not fading.

"Stop it," He ordered. Jack finally got what was happening and started snickering as well.

"Go Martha!" He muttered to Hope, who couldn't stop herself from snickering.

"For the record," Martha started, amusement having been satisfied, "I'm not remotely interested. I only go for humans."

The Doctor stared at Martha, annoyance slowly turning to amusement as he realizes he's been had, "Good," he said softly, "Well then! Close down the gravitic anomaliser, fire up the helmic regulator. And finally, the hand brake. Ready?" He said, Hope and Jack taking note of the faint excitement he was giving off.

"He really likes the beginnings, huh?" Hope said to Jack, who snickered.

"He does, doesn't he?"

"No," Martha replied to the Doctor, and he looked intently at her.

"Off we go!"

Hope laughed as Jack and her fell into each other, a mess of glitter exploding from their collision.

"Blimey, it's a bit bumpy," Martha commented, glancing back in time to see a large explosion of glitter and laughter.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Jones," The Doctor said, loud enough for Hope and Jack to recognize it and chime in.

"Great to have you, medic-in-training!" Hope called, still laughing.

"Hope you enjoy the adventure, Martha!" Jack inputted.

" **It's my pleasure, Mister Smith, Missus Smith, Jack!" Martha said, shaking the Doctor's hand, then Hope's, then Jack's, the TARDIS making it a bit wobbly and hazardous.**

 _Author's_ _Note:_ _S_ _o! I did get the next chapter done today! Great! ... This is my update schedule, people. Random and based off of my willingness to write. I won't do a triple-update, so if I write anything more expect it in like a week or something. Since I now am in episode territory again, expect the story to pick up a bit, because I'm looking forward to revealing a secret that's been in the works since the beginning, (with solid reasoning behind it, kinda, even though it's cliche, though it does have a twist to it), and the Family episodes are cool, and I absolutely adore Donna... Speaking of companions, can anyone explain why Clara is so hated? Like... Why tho? Ooh, I'm looking forward to Hope meeting Bill, if she makes it that far... That'd be really cool, actually. ... Yeah, I guess finally getting to the episodes are a kind of relief for me, since I knew that since there was the hospital thing I couldn't just write out a few adventures, or it'd get kind of ridiculous to include Martha. If you have any ideas or things you think should happen, do share. Flames work too, as long as you tell me what's wrong, haha._

 _ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:_

 **That's** **Balderdash:** River is great

 _ **Why yes, yes she is. I rather like her, but it's hard to write her out, ya know? And wow, it's been two hours since I last posted and you already reviewed... You're great. Not that any of my readers**_ _aren't_ _ **great, but like, wow. Lolz.**_

 **Other reviewers:**

 _ **Sorry, mates, I mustn't have gotten your reviews in time, if you did review, haha. Also, for those in the future reading this... heyyy~ having good years? Depending on how long this goes on, you might be reviewing years in the future... woah... ... Do I have enough foresight to make a 2020 joke? No? Okay, hahaha.**_


	11. Chapter 11

" **It's my pleasure, Mister Smith, Missus Smith, Jack!" Martha said, shaking the Doctor's hand, then Hope's, then Jack's, the TARDIS making it a bit wobbly and hazardous.**

After a few more shakes, Martha gripping the console while Hope and Jack were in a competition to see who could stay standing without holding on to anything longer, Martha spoke up.

"But _how_ do you travel in time, now what makes it _go_?" Martha asked, and the Doctor, spinning a side-gear, rolled his eyes.

"Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything. Martha you don't wanna know, it just does," He dismissed in a flat tone before looking down and raising his voice for Hope and Jack, "Hold on tight! Or at least hold on to _something_ , honestly you two-" And then the TARDIS landed, and a cloud of glitter poofed up as the Doctor ran into both Jack and Hope, who had stumbled behind him during their competition.

"Ha! I won!" Hope said on top of the groaning pile of people.

"No way, we fell at the same time! Just because you spun and fell on the Doctor doesn't mean anything!" Jack contested, and Hope grinned at Jack, who was grinning back at her from under the Doctor-sandwich.

"Then it was a tie, that still leaves us at 3-4, Jack. I swear all I need is one more win and we're even," Hope acknowledged, and the Doctor interrupted.

"Yes, yes, very nice, can you two _get off me_?" The Doctor asked, and Martha finally found room to cut in.

"Blimey, do you need a test to fly this thing?" Martha asked.

The Doctor, Hope, and Jack took the time to get up off of the ground, dusting each other off. Hope dusted the Doctor off, and Jack dusted Hope and himself off, since he knew Hope cared little for her own glitter-filled form.

Hope grinned at Jack again, and they laughed as the Doctor, looking much like a ruffled peacock, strode over to Martha to speak to her, "Yes, and I failed it. Now, make the most of it. I promised you one trip, and one trip only. Outside this door, brave new world."

Hope's expression froze for a moment, before she and Jack ran up to be just behind Martha.

"Wait, but aren't you going to… clean up a bit, first?" Martha asked, gesturing to his form.

The Doctor glanced down before his head shot up again, "Oh! That! Ah, yes, we probably should, shouldn't we? Ahh, that's alright, I landed a few hours earlier anyway," The Doctor said, looking inconvenienced.

"Right, well, I'll wait here, and you three can go take a shower and get dressed, _then_ we can go on an adventure," Martha stated, and Hope glanced at the Doctor for a few moments, silent, before smirking and walking off, Jack and the Doctor giving her confused looks.

"Would you care to join me?"

"Jack!" The Doctor scolded.

They both hesitated, awaiting the second scolding, only to look and see that Hope had continued walking, seemingly lost in thought as she laughed to herself.

"Er… Hey, Hope!" Jack said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder, ignoring her violent flinch.

"Hm?"

"You okay? You seem a bit spaced out," Jack commented, and Hope looked surprised, before going back to smirking.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just, it's usually that the Doctor always has some random gadget that just-so-happens to do exactly what you need it to, but apparently he never prepared for glitter," Hope explained, and the Doctor pouted as Jack laughed heartily.

Hope and Jack both had a moment of confusion when the Doctor walked in between them, focusing on Hope and pushing Jack further away from her by just being there.

"Yeah, no glitter-vacuum, sadly," the Doctor stated, grinning down at Hope.

Hope shrugged, a very melodramatic and overdone sigh leaving her, "Ahh, now if only there was some sort of sound-wave emitting device that could be tuned to disintegrate any item within seconds… Too bad that's unrealistic, right?" She started wistfully, voice slowly getting flatter and flatter.

Hope immediately regretted making the subtle jab at the Doctor, and suddenly all of the remaining River-high she had vanished in an instant. Hope looked down, shaking her head as her smile vanished, "Sorry."

The Doctor and Jack both noticed that Hope's energy from before suddenly vanished, and glanced at each other.

"... Yeah, that'd be a nice thing to have, wouldn't it? Too bad it'd take my sonic an hour to find the right vibrations," The Doctor mused.

"She was saying that your sonic was impractical at best, Doctor, a sonic four-in-one is way more practical," Jack said.

"What? No, that's not true! There's nothing wrong with my sonic!"

"I actually was referring to the sonic clothes disintegrator in the wardrobe, which can adjust to any material and disintegrate any remains on you. It um, helps with too-tight clothes, and if you have any material stuck in closed wounds… And it does it without injury to the person..." Hope muttered, and both Jack and the Doctor stopped.

"Oh! You mean the sonic dematerializer? … I forgot I had that! Oh, Hope, you're brilliant!" The Doctor yelled, and Hope and Jack had to sprint to keep up with the over-excited Doctor.

Hope wondered when the Doctor started noticing her when Jack was around. Usually that only happened when he wanted to scold them, and even then sometimes he forgot to add Hope into his scoldings.

When Hope got there, having taken a slow jog to the wardrobe through a shortcut, the Doctor and Jack hadn't arrived yet, so she decided to start up the sonic dematerializer. She added both silver and blue glitter from a tube she almost forgot was in her pocket to the sample area.

By the time the Doctor and Jack got there, the tube she had was full of silver glitter, and a separate plastic bag held the blue glitter.

Hope stared seriously at Jack, holding up the glitter, "Recycling," she muttered, barely hearable. Expecting the Doctor to just ignore her and use the sonic dematerializer, which was set, Hope flinched when he spoke.

"What? What does that mean? Why is Jack laughing so hard he can't breathe?" The Doctor asked rapid-fire, indignant. Hope flushed, looking away as she muttered a reply.

"Sorry?"

"... It's a joke, you wouldn't understand since you weren't there…" Hope murmured, even quieter, but heard because the Doctor walked closer.

He frowned, before a dinging distracted him, and he walked over to the sonic dematerializer. Jack fainted, and the Doctor turned just in time for Hope to see _everything_ as his clothes vanished, reappearing in the output slot totally clean.

Hope frowned, ignoring the Doctor to glance over the machine, "I could have sworn I set it to the right settings and everything… Oh, oh… Right, here, and there… Yeah, okay. It's good now, so all I need to do now…? Yeah," Hope whispered to herself as she pulled out a sonic pocket knife, the knife closed but the other end along with the edge of the blade glowing a brilliant seafoam color, or maybe a bright turquoise and whirred it at the machine for a few moments before putting it back in her pocket.

The Doctor, who had expected a more extreme reaction from his human companion, had already been frowning when his clothes re-materialized around him, and he checks his pockets to find everything there.

"Okay… And now, in case it's still not done correctly, there's Jack… ah, it works, so then, okay, done." And Hope turned off the machine, tube now filled with silver and bag being closed, dark blue shimmering.

Looking at the time, Hope realized that they'd been gone a bit over five minutes, and easily picked up Jack to carry his unconscious form to the console room. Hope stopped, momentarily confused when she realized that she managed to pick Jack up. She shrugged and continued, the Doctor following next to her.

"Oh, I forgot to ask earlier- what happened?" Martha started, cutting herself off when she saw Hope carrying Jack. Jack suddenly gasped, and Hope set him down.

"Oh, heheh, reuse," Jack finished, before looking around, "the glitter's gone? I couldn't have been out for more than a few moments, what happened?"

"I messed up and the Doctor ended up naked, then I fixed it, his clothes were put back on him, and I used you to make sure it was working before using it on myself, since my clothes are hardest to put back on, because the dematerializer isn't that great with bras," Hope explained, and Martha gaped at Hope.

"You were in a room, basically alone, with the Doctor while he was naked?" Martha exclaimed.

Both Hope and Jack looked at her, confused.

"Er… Yeah? It was an accident, I didn't _mean_ to get him a bit cold-"

"No, but, that's not right, unless- it's just not okay to be alone in a room with a naked man, alien or not, and you're not reacting," Martha claimed.

"...?" Hope looked extremely puzzled, "Um… Should I be reacting?"

"Yes!" Martha snapped, and Hope exchanged glances with Jack.

"But I've been in a room of all naked dudes, naked myself, many times…? It's not like it was sexual or anything, but there's nothing wrong with being naked in a room with a different gender?" Hope tried, voice giving away her utter bewilderment.

"Yeah, I don't see the problem. Is this a 21st century thing?" Jack asked.

"No, not that I know of. I'm from then…" Hope muttered, and Jack nodded.

Martha looked exasperated, "But it's not right! It's not- it's not proper!"

Both Jack and Hope brightened, as if they had an epiphany at the same time, "Oh!" Then they started laughing, and Martha looked insulted.

"Oh, don't mind them… Neither of them really know anything about proper. Jack is a conman from the 51st century, and Hope was once a street urchin," The Doctor muttered to Martha.

Martha's confusion and offense faded, pity left in its wake.

"No, don't," the Doctor ordered, and Martha was about to snap something in response but suddenly the laughter faded, abruptly.

"Don't," Hope reaffirmed quietly.

"Pity does more harm than good. If you want to pity anyone, just don't," Jack clarified, voice hardened.

"Okay… Where are we?" Martha asked.

"Take a look," The Doctor said, opening the doors, "after you."

"Oh you're kidding me," Martha said, urchins running around and laughing in early Elizabethan England, "You are so kidding me. Oh, my God, we did it. We travelled in time. Where are we? No, sorry," Martha corrected herself, "I got to get used to this whole new language. When are we?"

"1500's? Maybe 1600's?" Hope asked Jack, and he looked around, shrugging.

The Doctor pulled Martha out of the way of a man throwing a bucket of sewage out his window.

"Mind out!" He exclaimed, Martha now held possessively to his side, "Somewhere… before the invention of the toilet. Sorry about that." The Doctor said calmly.

Hope looked around, and got distracted by a glittering object a few blocks away. Glancing at the Doctor, she shrugged and walked off. Jack, who had just made a quip to her, glanced over to see her wandering off, and jogged after her. It was a small aluminum page with a bold number on it.

"That's psychic," Jack commented.

"It has a number on it. **There's more," Hope replied, "Come on, let's go."**

* * *

 _AN I guess I have to make a 2020 joke now. Who knew that my past self would know when I'd next update? ... It's been a literal year, guys. I'm sorry. This hasn't even been written recently. Guys, I've had the year of a f ing lifetime, and I'm STILL bored. I... I really do change my name a lot, huh? Anyway, enjoy. The chances of this being updated anytime soon is so slim that I'm unsure if it will even be in 2020 anymore. Hopefully it will be. Heh, get it? Hope? Keep Hope, Save the World, Scarsienna, etc. Does anyone know how the Master did the hypnotism thing?_


	12. Chapter 115

"It has a number on it. **There's more," Hope replied, "Come on, let's go."**

Hours passed, and the only thing keeping both of them following the notes was the fact that they both were extremely lost. Even still, Hope knew most of the streets by heart, besides the ones that vanished or moved, or some new ones that surprised her. New streets in old London? How… Ironic.

"Hey! This one has a note on it," Jack said, gaining Hope's attention, "It says to walk into the nearest building."

They both glanced at the doorway they found it at. That was… Odd. Jack pushed Hope behind him and went into the store. Hope hid her eye-roll behind closed eyes and silently followed behind him.

"Oh! You've finally arrived, good," Hope paused at the voice. Why was it familiar? She glanced over Jack's shoulder to see… Harold Saxon? Wasn't he the runner-up for Prime Minister? Or, wait, he was blond. An ancestor? Hope observed him, no, they looked identical.

"Move, cannon fodder," The man snapped, standing up and shoving Jack out of the way as he moved towards Hope, mouth curling up in an insanely cruel smile, "You."

Hope stumbled, eyes wide as the world seemed to twist around her and the man. She gasped once it finished, on her hands and knees on the ground. Glancing up, she saw every-day London, but more over, she was looking at her former group. Didn't… Didn't she _just_ leave them? What was going on? When was she? Why did _Harold Saxon_ have a vortex manipulator?

Hope stood awkwardly. Well, she supposed she'd have to find out, wouldn't she?

 **A/N: Just a runner-up for what's to come. I'll have to reread and go through the story again so that I can get a grasp on who Hope is, what she was like, etcetera, so I figured I'd give you guys a tease while I do that. Was it as good a cliffhanger as I wanted it to be? It's at least a 6/10, right?**


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